LES Public Policy Statements

Letter to Senators Reid and McConnell stating Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), Inc. supports the Coburn Amendment to H.R. 1249 to reinstate to section 22 of the Bill the revolving fund language that would remove the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) from the congressional appropriations process, and put an end to fee diversion.

LES (USA & Canada) President Michael Lasinski, and Trustee for Public Policy, Brian O'Shaughnessy, delivered a letter on August 1 to the U.S. Senate opposing the "Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act" (S. 27, "the Act") because it would diminish patent protection, and reduce access to affordable generics.

LES (USA & Canada) President, Michael Lasinski, and Trustee for Public Policy, Brian O'Shaughnessy, delivered a letter on Thursday, June 23rd to the U.S. House of Representatives, encouraging Judiciary Committee Chairman, Lamar Smith, and Ranking Member, John Conyers, Jr., to amend HR 1249 to prohibit diversion of USPTO fees to other government agencies. Although Congress has permitted the USPTO to retain all of its fee-derived revenue in recent years, LES (USA & Canada) support making that practice law.

On December 9, 2010, LES (USA & Canada) delivered letters to the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Committee on Appropriations to support an amendment to the current funding structure for the USPTO.

On December 9, 2010, LES (USA & Canada) delivered letters to the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Committee on Appropriations to support an amendment to the current funding structure for the USPTO.

The Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada),Inc. has announced that a provision of the recently enacted Health Care Overhaul Bill that would have made certain patent settlement agreements illegal was removed just prior to the Bill’s passage in the House.

LES (USA & Canada) Weighs in on Key Provision to Healthcare Reform Legislation

On June 15, 2009, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed column entitled, "Why Technologists Want Fewer Patents," authored by L. Gordon Crovitz.

As the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to reconsider what can be patented, Crovitz used the opportunity to argue that the patent system badly needs reform and erroneously stated that the U.S. Patent Office "now gets some 500 million applications a year, leading to litigation costs of over $10 billion a year to define who has what rights."

LES responded by sending in this Letter to the Editor and is also developing its own op-ed column to pitch to The Wall Street Journal.

LES (USA & Canada) comments on the FTC's Hearings regarding the Evolving Intellectual Property Marketplace. 73 Fed. Reg. 70645 (Nov. 21, 2008).

LES (USA & Canada) requested the Obama Administration's support for three important intellectual property initiatives.