IP Legislation and Regulation to Watch in 2016

Although key important patent legislation bills were stalled in Congress in 2015, it is expected that efforts will progress in 2016. It is believed that the two leading bills—The Innovation Act and the Support Technology and Research for Our Nation's Growth (STRONG) Act—are likely to be combined into a single piece of legislation. Law360 reached to Finnegan attorney Lionel M. Lavenue for his thoughts on intellectual property legislation to watch in 2016.

Lavenue said, "The leading bills in the House and Senate are coming from two separate perspectives, and they are really not reconcilable. I think that is the main reason so far we haven’t seen one unified bill make it through Congress." He predicts that lawmakers may try to make it easier to pass the bills by watering down the provisions in each bill.