Science, Intellectual Property, and Legislation in the 110th Congress
26 Jan 2007
Following the 2006 mid-term elections, changes in the composition of the U.S. Congress have raised the question of how previously-proposed legislation concerning intellectual property (IP) rights and legal protections will be addressed.
With the Democratic Party having gained control of the Senate and the House of Representatives as of January 2007, that question will continue to be of significance as the new Congress develops its agendas and as committee/subcommittee assignments are completed. Equally important will be the relevance of any new legislation to the conduct of scientific research and to innovations applied in medicine and human health, information technology/access to data, and a host of other issue areas. For example, during the 109th Congress, the Senate and the House drafted separate variants of a Patent Reform Act, beginning with the House’s Patent Reform Act of 2005. Legislators also turned their attention toward matters related to copyright and digital rights management (DRM) technologies. Although both bodies of the new Congress still are in the process of delegating various committee and subcommittee assignments—as well as developing their agenda items—it is important to note that the leadership of those committees/subcommittees has passed to members within the Democratic Party (however, many of those committees/subcommittees, such as the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, have retained several members from both parties, who served in the previous Congress).
Some analysts have argued that, in contrast to the 109th Congress, a Democratic Congress will place less emphasis on IP matters, making it difficult to speculate about the future of legislative developments concerning such issues as patent reform and copyright control. For example, during the 109th Congress “[s]ome of the support for patent reform arose from business interests concerned about ‘patent trolling.’ These interests may get a less sympathetic ear in a Democratic Congress." (See G.H. Pike, 2007. What will the Democrats do?: Legal issues. Information Today 24(1):15-16).
Interestingly, such issues as digital consumer rights might receive increased attention during the 110th Congress, as demonstrated by the extensive work on that matter by Representative Rick Boucher (D-Virginia), member of the House Committee on the Judiciary-Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. In contrast, others have noted that significant IP legislative reforms during the new Congress might occur only under a bipartisan framework or spirit of cooperation. (See Aquino, J.T. 2006. US election provides new landscape for IP reform. Intellectual Property Watch. Nov. 11, 2006. [Online] www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=455&res=1024_ff&print=0.)
The composition of the 110th Congress with respect to key subcommittees whose work applies to matters of intellectual property includes the following:
Howard L. Berman (D-CA), Chair, House Committee on the Judiciary-Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
Howard Coble (R-NC), Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary-Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), Chair, U.S. Senate-Committee on the Judiciary
Arlen Specter (R-PA), Ranking Member, U.S. Senate-Committee on the Judiciary
Source: See in-text citations
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