BIO Statement regarding the Innovation Act, H.R. 3309

[Update: The House of Representatives passed the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309) on December 5, 2013]

Washington, D.C. (December 3, 2013) – The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today issued the following statement regarding the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309), as reported by the House Judiciary Committee:

"The Innovation Act was introduced with the goal of furthering patent system reform, particularly with respect to patent-related litigation. We support increased transparency and oppose abusive litigation tactics.

“Unfortunately, provisions in the Act remain overly broad in important respects and, if ultimately enacted, would continue to result in too many unintended and unknowable consequences for innovators who rely on the patent system to fund and protect their inventions.

“Provisions in the legislation would erect unreasonable barriers to access justice for innovators, especially small start-ups that must be able to defend their businesses against patent infringement in a timely and cost-effective manner, and without needless and numerous procedural hurdles or other obstacles.

"While we have been working to improve the legislation and appreciate some of the modifications that have been made by the bill’s sponsors, these changes have not been sufficient to adequately address our concerns, and therefore BIO cannot support the legislation in its current form.”

To learn more about BIO and the biotech industry, please visit http://www.bio.org.

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