Senate IPR reform a work in progress

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed the Patent Act (S. 1137) Thursday by a 16-4 vote, although the bill's sponsors said they intend to modify it to address concerns from the life sciences industry prior to a vote by the full Senate. During a hearing prior to the committee vote, several senators said changes to the inter partes review system recently added to the bill do not adequately address the concerns expressed by biopharma companies (see BioCentury, May 18).

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told the hearing that "language on IPR remains under good faith negotiations by both sides." He rejected proposals from PhRMA and BIO to make the standards for adjudicating IPR challenges consistent with those used by federal courts, but said he is committed to finding a compromise that would be acceptable to life sciences companies. ...