Protecting and Encouraging Technological Innovation		Our Purpose	Position Statements	Key Legislation & Public Policy	Publications
National Inventor's Hall of Fame		Issues & Activities	Online Resources	Testimony & Communications	Committee Info

PURPOSE

15 AUGUST 2008 The next meeting of the IPC will be held in the IEEE-USA Conference Room, 1828 L Street, NW, Suite 1202. August 2007 Coverage of the IEEE-USA letter to Congress opposing the 2007 Patent Reform Bill: "Engineers Fight Patent Reform, Not Patent Trolls" New York Times BITS Blog (30 Aug) "IEEE voices opposition to the Patent Reform Act of 2007" www.filewrapper.com (28 Aug) The Patent Prospector Blog (27 Aug) November 2005 The IPC approved draft legislation that would establish limits for employment agreements clarifying what intellectual property created by an employee can be claimed by the company and what belongs to the employee. Text of draft legislation. 27 June 2005 Supreme Court Opinion:  METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS INC., ET AL., PETITIONERS v. GROKSTER, LTD., ET AL. No. 04-480 Inducing Infringement of Copyrights - Resource page 24 January 2005 IEEE-USA Seeks to Prevent Copyright Infringement, Preserve Technological Innovation in Electronic File Sharing: Amicus Brief Filed in U.S. Supreme Court Today. (MGM v. Grokster, Supreme Court Case No. 04-480) See our Resource Page Here. 24 January 2005 IEEE-USA seeks to protect right to reverse engineer for interoperability in amicus brief filed in 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, click here. 22 July 2004 For information on IEEE-USA's testimony on the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (S.2560), click here.

The Intellectual Property Committee's primary objective is to focus on intellectual property matters as they relate to the IEEE's U.S. membership (employed engineers, faculty, scientists, inventors, entrepreneurs, etc.), fast moving technology, technology transfer, and U.S. competitiveness.

IPC prepares testimony and position statements, drafts legislation, and delivers expert testimony before the U.S. Congress & the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The IPC is often called upon to offer advice to the U.S. Copyright Office, Office of Science and Technology Policy, the United States Trade Representative Office, and to the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust issues.

All IPC-developed positions represent a consensus of a diverse group of engineers and lawyers who are either sole practitioners or work for industry. This committee promotes the interests of individual engineers and the U.S. technological workforce.

ISSUES & ACTIVITIES

For 2008, the IPC is focusing on the following priority issues and activities:

• Patent reform Update - The progress Congress was making on the Patent Reform Act stalled in May 2008. The House passed their version of the legislation in late 2007. However Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled the bill from the Senate schedule and reform efforts are unlikely to reappear in the 110th Congress.

23 October 2007 - Coalition letter to Senate leadership, IEEE-USA signed onto a letter bearing the names of more than 430 organizations and companies united in opposition to the Patent Reform Act of 2007 as currently written. Spanning a vast range of industries and including every size of entity from startups to the nation's largest corporations, the signatories are based in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

27 August 2007 - Read IEEE-USA's letter to House and Senate Leaders and Judiciary Committee members opposing adoption of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1145/H.R. 1908)

The IPC is prepared to also act on other issues related to intellectual property as they arise.  For a complete listing of IEEE-USA's 2007 policy priorities, visit: http://ieeeusa.org/policy/issues/index.html

NATIONAL INVENTOR's HALL of FAME

The National Inventors Hall of Fame™ honors the women and men responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible.

Each year, the Selection Committee - including representatives of IEEE - of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation selects inventors for induction. These are selected from a field of people nominated by peers and the public. The Selection Committee includes representatives from the leading national scientific and technical organizations. Please visit http://www.invent.org/ for more information and for nomination forms, and help to gain recognition for the colleagues and peers who inspire you.

The Hall of Fame also awards collegiate inventors for their contributions. Visit http://www.invent.org/collegiate/index.html for more information.

LEGISLATION

• 110th Congress: Introduced Legislation of Interest:

HR 1908 — Patent Reform Act of 2007       

Sponsor: Berman, Howard L. (D-Calif.)

Last Major Action: Enrolled in the US House; placed on the Senate calendar.

             

S 1145 — Patent Reform Act of 2007

Sponsor: Leahy, Patrick J. (D-Vt.)

Last Major Action: 24 January 2008; Amended by Leahy and placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 563.

Department of Commerce, Letter providing the views of the Administration on S. 1145, the "Patent Reform Act of 2007," as reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 24,2008.

ARCHIVES

• 109th Congress Legislation (archive)
• DMCA Review Materials (archive)
• INDUCE Act Materials (archive)
• Festo Amicus Materials (archive)

PUBLICATIONS

Intellectual Property & The Employee Engineer by Orin Laney - http://www.ieeeusa.org/members/IPandtheengineer.pdf (The IPC plans to update this publication in 2008)

POSITION STATEMENTS

The IEEE-USA Board of Directors had adopted the following IEEE-USA IPC-developed position statements:

• An Overall Approach to Intellectual Property Protection (Feb. 2006)

• Computer Industry Patents (June 2007)

• Closing the Off-shore Patent Infringement Loophole (June 2007)

• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Encryption Research Provisions (June 2002)

• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Notice-and-Takedown Provisions (June 2002)

• Digital Rights Management (June 2007)  

• Disclosure of Intellectual Property Assignment Agreements (June 2003) 

• Invention Rights for Employees (Nov. 2005)

• New Forms of Intellectual Property Protection (Nov. 2005)

• Non-Negotiable Terms and Conditions in the Sale or Transfer of Computer Software and Other Digital Works (Feb. 2003)

• Multiple Patent Claim Forms (Nov. 2006)

• Reverse Engineering (June 2003)

• University Intellectual Property Policy Guidelines (June 2007)

• The Use of Neutral Experts in Intellectual Property Litigation (June 2006)

• User Rights in Digital Copyright (June 2007)  

TESTIMONY & POLICY COMMUNICATIONS

IPC initiated the following IEEE-USA testimony and communications to the U.S. Congress and the Administration:

• Letter to House and Senate Leaders and Judiciary Committee members opposing adoption of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1145/H.R. 1908) (27 August 2007)
• Coalition letter to key Congressional leaders expressing concerns with certain provisions of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (S1145/H.R. 1908). (19 June 2007)
• Letter to Rep. Joe Barton endorsing The Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act of 2005 (S. 2048). ( 16 June 2006)
• IEEE-USA amicus brief on inducement of copyright infringement in electronic file sharing filed in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster (U.S. Supreme Ct.) (24 Jan. 2005)
• IEEE-USA amicus brief on reverse engineering for interoperability filed in Davidson vs. Blizzard (8th Cir. Ct. App.) (24 Jan. 2005)
• Letter to Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) concerning voluntary infringement of copyrights (S.2560)(8 July 2004)
• Letter to U.S. Senate urging support for provisions of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Fee Modernization Act of 2003 (H.R. 1561) that would end the practice of patent fee diversion. (12 March 2004)
• IEEE-USA Amicus Brief in Baystate Technologies, Inc. vs. Bower (2 June 2003)
• Statement for the record of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property's hearing on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Fee Schedule Adjustment and Agency Reform Proposals. (18 July 2002)
• Letter to Senators Leahy and Hatch endorsing the Patent and Trademark Office Authorization Act of 2002 (S 1754) (18 Jan. 2002)
• U.S. Supreme Court discusses IEEE-USA amicus brief during oral arguments on Festo Corporation vs. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kagushiki, Ltd. case. (8 Jan. 2002)
• Letter to Key Senate Appropriators and to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office urging restoration of PTO funding levels cut by the House of Representatives in the FY 2001 Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Bill (H.R. 4690). (7/14/00)
• IEEE-USA Amicus Curiae brief supporting appropriate uses of reverse engineering, submitted to the California Sixth District Court of Appeals in the case of Brunner vs. DVD Copy Control Association (No. H021153) (7/5/00)
• IEEE-USA to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws concerning the proposed Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA). (7/20/99)
• IEEE-USA letter to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws concerning reverse engineering and the proposed Article 2B of the Uniform Commercial Code. (10/9/98)
• IEEE-USA letter to the U.S. Senate regarding pending consideration of the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act (H.R. 2281) in the Senate. (9/8/98)
• IEEE-USA Recommendations for the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act (H.R. 2652) (Download and print as Win97/Word 7 doc or PDF file)
• IEEE-USA letter to the House Commerce Committee concerning Internet Service Provider liability issues in the WIPO Treaties Implementation Act (H.R. 2281). (6/11/98)
• IEEE-USA letter to the House Commerce Committee concerning Section 3 (Copyright Protections Systems and Copyright Managment Information) of the WIPO Treaties Implementation Act (H.R. 2281). (6/5/98)
• IEEE-USA letter to the House Judiciary and Science Committees on the Information Antipiracy Act of 1998 (H.R. 2652) (5/18/98)
• IEEE-USA letter to Rep. Howard Coble on Section 3 (Copyright Protections Systems and Copyright Management Information) of the WIPO Treaties Implementation Act (H.R. 2281) (4/2/98)
• IEEE-USA Letter to Rep. Howard Coble on the proposed Collections of Information Antipiracy Act (H.R. 2652) (3/16/98).
• IEEE-USA Statement to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws forwarding comments on a proposed draft uniform system for the licensing of intellectual property and computer software (Amendments to UCC Article 2B). (2/23/98)
• IEEE-USA letter to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott urging legislative action on the the Omnibus Patent Act of 1997 (S. 507) (10/9/97)
• IPC released IEEE-USA Action Alert 97.3, which calls on members for help in promoting the American Innovator's Protection Act, draft legislation which would create a new form of intellectual property protection to address the needs of innovators and the rapidly changing markets. (8/29/97)
• IEEE-USA Statement prepared for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee concerning the Omnibus Patent Act of 1997 (S. 507) (5/7/97)
• IEEE-USA Statement prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property concerning the 21st Century Patent Improvements Act of 1997 (H.R. 400) (2/26/97)
• IEEE-USA Statement prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property concerning the Patent and Trademark Office Surcharge Extension Act of 1997 (H.R. 673) (2/26/97)

Web Resources

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICY COMMITTEE

The 15-member committee meets approximately four times a year in Washington, DC.  Additionally, 45 other IEEE members serve as corresponding members of the IPC and assist with drafting position statements, amicus briefs, and all communications with policy makers.

2007 Key Contacts:

Chair: Keith Grzelak - Spokane, WA

Vice-Chair: Glenn Tenney - San Mateo, CA
Staff:  Erica Wissolik - Washington, DC