Potential practictioners in the field of patent protection law will be delighted to learn that the Senate has passed H.R. 628. This bill is designed to start a pilot program to assign and train federal district court judges to handle patent cases. The title of the bill says it all -
"An Act to establish a pilot program in certain United States district courts to encourage enhancement of expertise in patent cases among district judges."
Patent protection cases can, of course, be quite technical. Handling these cases can sometimes require additional qualifications, experience, and a willingness to take them on. Since the Senate amended the original House bill it will now go to conference committee where the amendments should be reconciled and, ultimately, presented to the President to be signed into law.
The bill itself is available on the new FDsys site in PDF format. The bill can be tracked on Thomas from the H.R. 628 Bill Summary & Status page. To follow the bill you can visit the Summary and Status page every day and check under the All Congressional Actions link which will take you to a page detailing what has happened to the bill so far. Or, you can set up an email alert.
