Patent Law Harmonization Treaty Decision is Not Far Off – What Course Should The U.S. Take?: A Review of the Current Situation and Alternatives Available

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Section I of this article includes a brief explanation of the WIPO treaty process. Section II gives an overview of how a patent system would function with the proposed changes. A chart, keyed to the draft treaty articles, is included to show the functional role of each provision. While this article assumes some knowledge of developments in prior meetings and basic international patent law, it is written for general patent specialists and business persons who want to know what is going on at the patent harmonization meetings. Section III is a detailed review of the 7th meeting discussions, based on first-hand observations, organized by the draft treaty articles. The reader will find it convenient to refer to the Section II chart, for a particular topic and article number, and to look up that article in Section III for more information.Section IV analyzes several of the major issues facing the U.S. at the next meeting. Since this meeting is the last one for the experts to clarify the articles and include all desired provisions, it is very important that U.S. organizations prepare thoroughly for this meeting. This article is designed to be useful after the next meeting of experts, when the U.S. government and U.S. organizations are preparing for the diplomatic conference. In addition, this background should be helpful in developing appropriate U.S. legislation to bring U.S. patent law in line with treaty requirements, should the U.S. decide to adhere to the treaty.