PATENT REFORM 2011 - ACTION PLAN - What You Can Do To Maintain Inventors' Rights

[UPDATED 9-3-11]

Ask Your Senators to vote "NO" on H.R. 1249 known as the "AMERICA INVENTS ACT" formerly known as Patent Reform Act.

Note: A bill must be introduced into both the House and the Senate, then it must be approved by a majority of both the House and the Senate, before finally being signed into law by the President. ( For more details about how a bill becomes law, click here.) If either the House or Senate rejects a bill, the bill is dead.

The Senate passed bill S. 23 on March 9, 2011 by a huge margin of 95 "yes" vs. only 5 "no".
See how all Senators voted on this bill at this link.
( www.opencongress.org/vote/2011/s/35 ).

The House passed bill H.R. 1249 on June 23, 2011 by a margin of 304 "yes" vs. 117 "no".
See how all House members voted on this bill at this link.
( www.opencongress.org/vote/2011/h/491 ).

In our opinion, many inventors are not aware of the proposed patent changes, and the voice of the independent inventor has not been heard in Washington D.C. You can make a difference! The tipping point can be as few as 100 people contacting their senators to turn the tide!

URGENT ALERT 9-3-11

FLASH NOTICE: Even though S.23 and H.R. 1249 have been passed by each house, they haven't been reconciled nor voted into law yet. There's a very short window of time between now and Sept 6 for you to contact your representatives if you would like to protest the patent reform.

1. Ask your SENATORS to vote "NO" on the Motion for Couture for H.R. 1249 on Tuesday. Couture would stop all further debate on the bills and schedule it for a final vote. Ask them to keep the debate OPEN.
Click here to quickly find your two state Senators.

2. Ask all your Senators and Representatives to vote "NO" on H.R. 1249 changing our patent system to the foreign first-to-file.
Click here to quickly find your Representative.

Making a phone call is best. Sending a fax is next. Sending an email last. These are the absolute quickest ways to get the message across, but it needs to be done right now in order to make any difference. NOTE: Don't send anything by postal mail since it gets screened and can be delayed as much as weeks.

HAVE NO TIME TO WRITE A LETTER OR MAKE A CALL?
CLICK HERE TO SIGN A QUICK PETITION

Please distribute this to your friends, relatives, and business associates through social media like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.

If your voices can succeed in at least postponing the bill, this will give everyone more time to look at the other issues that we believe will also stifle the development of intellectual property developed by independent inventors and small/medium-sized businesses in the U.S.

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Index:
1. Sample Guide/Outline of How to Write a Message
2. Who to Contact
3. Chain Protest Viral Email Approach: The Power of Multiplication

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1. SAMPLE GUIDE/OUTLINE OF HOW TO WRITE A MESSAGE:

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Note: If possible, try to be original with your message so that they don’t all sound exactly the same. The following only gives you a general idea of what to write. Please be polite, rational, respectful, and professional, and refrain from using profanities and/or negative, emotionally charged comments.

NOTE: YOUR MESSAGE DOESN'T NEED TO BE LONG, JUST BE CLEAR AND TO THE POINT. THE GUIDE BELOW COVERS THE BASICS.

IMPORTANT: You MUST include your name and address in your Congressional correspondence because emails or letters without a full U.S. street address will not be read.

(First, State who you are:)
Dear Honorable (name),
My name is (John or Jane Smith) and I'm an (entrepreneur, independent inventor, person with a new idea, small business owner, product developer, etc.). I've been inventing for (x) years, etc. (feel free to add more of your own personalized information here.)

(Next, State your position:)
I am writing to let you know that I just became aware of the proposed patent changes and I strongly oppose bill (enter here), known as the H.R. 1249 America Invents Act of 2011.

(Then, State your views and opinions:)
(sample only, please write your own) I understand that the meetings for these proposed patent changes have been dominated by large corporations, and lack appropriate representation by the small businesses, independent inventors, inventor organizations, and the independent inventor community at large.

I believe that if passed, the H.R. 1249 the America Invents Act of 2011 will affect my own ability, as well as other independent inventors, small businesses and innovators, to profit from their inventions and innovations in the future. I believe that making such major changes to the U.S. patent system will impact our economy in a negative way, by removing incentives to invest in innovation e.g., capitalizing on the development, creation and marketing of intellectual property.

(Last, State the conclusion:)
Any one of the issues in bill “(enter here)”, alone, would be a major change to the U.S. patent system that could negatively affect inventors from being granted a patent. Many of the proposed changes in the two bills are tied-in to the worldwide “first-to-file” system. This first-to-file “package of issues", will destroy the intrinsic incentives and original intention of the U.S. 200+ year old patent system, the“First-to-Invent” which favors the creator i.e. inventor.

The U.S. patent system, created by our founding fathers, has been in place for over 200 years and I believe it has been a major catalyst to making the U.S. one of the greatest countries in the world and a leader in the creation of technology and innovation. A strong patent system that supports incentives for independent inventors, that has a level playing field for corporations and entrepreneurs will encourage the spirit of achievement that made this country great.

Please vote "NO" on COUTURE for H.R. 1249 and "NO" on bill H.R. 1249 for the America Invents Act of 2011 and maintain the genius of our founding fathers to keep the 200+ year old "First-to-Invent" system in place.

Respectfully yours,
(your name)

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SOURCE: GOVTRACK.US
Tips for Communicating with Congress
Here are some excellent tips, be sure to read them to make sure that your message makes a difference!

Here's a good information web site with "Frequently Asked Questions" about Contacting the Congress
www.contactingthecongress.org/about.html

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2. WHO TO CONTACT:

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YOUR THREE (3) STATE REPRESENTATIVES:

Contact your (2) senators for your state.

U.S. Senate:
Find your state's senators by entering your state at:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
It'll bring up a quick form that you can fill out and email to them!

U.S. House:
Find your state's representatives by entering your state at:
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml
It'll bring up a chart of the states, click your state, and it'll bring up the web sites for your House representatives. Then look for the email form to contact your representatives.

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If this is all you have time for, then you're done! But if you have a few more minutes to contact up to a few more individuals, the impact will be much greater.

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SENATE MAJORITY LEADER WHO CALLED FOR THE COUTURE VOTE

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Senator Reid is calling for the Senators to vote on the Motion for "Couture" which means there would be no further debate, amendments, comments, or opportunity to oppose the patent reform. That's why it's important for him to receive a copy of your letter.

THE HONORABLE HARRY REID (D-NV)
TITLE: Senate Majority Leader
Address: United States Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3542
Fax: 202-224-7327
Email Form: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

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CHAIRMEN OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE COMMITTEE WHO "INTRODUCED" THE BILLS

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These next two contacts are the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees who "introduced" the bills. It's important that everyone contact these individuals!

THE HONORABLE PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT)
Title: Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
Address: 437 Russell Senate Building
Washington DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4242
Email Form: http://leahy.senate.gov/contact/
Web site: leahy.senate.gov

THE HONORABLE LAMAR SMITH (R-TX21)
Title: Chair, House Committee on the Judiciary: Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
Address: 2409 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4236
Fax: (202) 225-8628
Web site: http://lamarsmith.house.gov/
Email: https://lamarsmith.house.gov/Contact/default.aspx

ALSO CONTACT THE FOLLOWING (2) KEY INFLUENTIAL DIGNITARIES IN WASHINGTON D.C.

The U.S. Patent Office is run by the U.S. Department of Commerce. So contacting the U.S. Secretary of Commerce as well as contacting the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office will help alert the top two U.S. officials related to the patent office, that independent inventors do not agree with the proposed patent changes.

THE HONORABLE GARY LOCKE
Title: U.S. Secretary of Commerce
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20230
Phone: (202) 482-2000
Email: %%%TheSec@doc.gov
(Note: remove the three percentage characters [%%%] from the email address, they were added to prevent spam.)

THE HONORABLE DAVID KAPPOS
Title: Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
600 Dulany St,
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
571-272-8600
571-273-0464 FAX
Email: %%%jennifer.rankin_byrne@uspto.gov (Send Attn: David Kappos c/o Jennifer Rankin, Press Relations)
(Note: remove the three percentage characters [%%%] from the email address, they were added to prevent spam.)

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3. CHAIN PROTEST EMAIL BLITZ: THE POWER OF MULTIPLICATION

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PLEASE TWITTER THIS, RE-TWITTER THIS, FACEBOOK THIS, BLOG THIS.....

I believe that many inventors haven’t been aware about the proposed patent changes, and thus the voice of the independent inventor hasn’t been heard in Washington D.C. So the “Tipping Point” doesn’t require that many individuals, probably as few as 50 to 100 can make the difference and change the direction to defeat any bills. Certainly if thousands, or more, inventors contact our representatives, the independent inventor will surely be acknowledged.

So be sure to email other individuals that you know, who should also let their voice be heard on these important issues. Become an "email-activist" by emailing as many people as you can and asking them to also send an instant email. If, for example, you send out 10, your 10 emails can quickly multiply to 100, then 1000, 10,000, 100,000 and so on. This is a positive way to use the chain letter/networking concept for a good cause, and was the successful approach used by our founding fathers (well with letters, not emails!).

If you can also find time to call the office of your senators and representatives, in addition to the emails, it will add much more impact to your effort.

REMEMBER...
1) Contacting your two Senators and your local House Representative is the most important right now.
2) Also sending this out to friends, family and small businesses owners, small business networks etc. , be creative.

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4. KEEP INFORMED:

To receive updates, please check back regularly in to the Inventors' Voice blog at inventorsvoice.blogspot.com.

INVENTORS' VOICE TM. 8306 Wilshire Blvd., Ste 391 Beverly Hills, CA 90211 / 800 458-5624 / inventorsvoice@inventionconvention.com / inventorsvoice.blogspot.com

Copyright 2011. Stephen Paul Gnass. All Rights Reserved.

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