Prepared Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee

Executive Business Meeting

June 4, 2015

 

On today's agenda is the bipartisan PATENT Act, which addresses the problem of abusive patent litigation tactics.  I've already spoken at length on the need for legislation to crack down on these abuses, so I'm going to be brief in my remarks.  Also, I want to complete the markup of this bill today, so I hope my colleagues will cooperate and be succinct in their remarks and debate.

Let me briefly talk about the managers' package.  There are a number of provisions that we've included in the bill, including non-controversial PTO requests, the Leahy/Grassley Patents for Humanity legislation that improves this PTO program, and other technicals.  One provision I want to highlight in the managers' amendment clarifies that in the fee shifting provision, "undue economic hardship to a named inventor or institution of higher education" is a factor that a judge can consider when determining if "special circumstances" make a fee award unjust.

Another provision I want to mention is the new section 11 which deals with inter partes and post grant review proceedings at the PTO.  I worked with the Ranking Member, Senator Cornyn, Senator Schumer, Senator Hatch, and a number of my other Committee colleagues on this particular piece.  This effort was in response to concerns that had been raised by certain industry groups about what they saw as abuse of the administrative proceedings at the PTO.  At the same time, there were also other stakeholders that believed these proceedings have been very effective at getting rid of weak patents.

This piece is the product of discussions with various industry stakeholders, including the life sciences and tech groups.  I think that many of us believe that the post grant proceedings at the PTO are working quite well with respect to weeding out poor quality and improperly granted patents.  So it was our goal to address concerns, but not derail the very important function that these proceedings have in knocking out weak claims and patents.

I hope that we've succeeded in making limited changes to the PTO processes to address these concerns.  I know not everyone is happy, but we really tried to strike the right balance of addressing concerns but not disrupting the PTO proceedings.

I'd like to point out that, as this bill moves to the floor, there remain a few issues that need to be resolved.   As we indicated, the language we included in the managers' amendment that deals with amending claims in the PTO proceedings is a placeholder because it remains the subject of good faith negotiations.  This has been a difficult nut to crack, but I understand that both sides believe that we can reach a compromise that will work.  Unfortunately we weren't able to reach agreement before today's session, so the placeholder language stands, but I'm committed to getting resolution on this piece as we move to the floor.

In addition, there is a proposal by the life sciences community concerning the applicability of the PTO's post grant proceedings to patents that are subject to the Hatch-Waxman Act and Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) processes.  The Hatch-Waxman process has been instrumental in facilitating the entry of low cost generic drugs in the market.  Consumers want access to cheaper drugs as soon as possible, so I've been a big supporter of this law.  I'm also supportive of incentivizing biosimilar market entry.  When the America Invents Act was considered, it's my understanding that there was no debate over whether or how IPR would impact these important processes.

It's imperative for us to hear from all sides, get additional information and data, and consult with the HELP Committee, which is the Committee of jurisdiction over the Hatch-Waxman Act and Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) laws.  This is a complex issue that needs to be seriously and responsibly considered, including further review, discussion, and vetting.  My colleagues and I have already started getting views on this matter, and we continue to review and conduct outreach.

I agree that we need to preserve incentives for generics to come to market, and I'm committed to working on this issue as we move towards the floor.

Once again, I thank my colleagues for their hard work on this important bill.

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Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations for 2014, 2015 and 2016. Loebsack has been leading the fight to highlight the importance of the RFS to Iowa.

"The new RFS obligations have been a long time coming. While the EPA has taken steps to improve upon its previous proposal, which would have devastated Iowa's farmers and rural communities, there is room for improvement in their newest proposal. The proposal announced today is still lower than the levels mandated by Congress. It is disappointing that the EPA has sided with Big Oil at the expense of rural families across the nation. The good news is that the proposal is not final and it is time for farmers to again stand up and tell the EPA that they deserve better and need to do what Congress has mandated.

"The RFS has proven it works, creates jobs, supports our agricultural communities and lessens our dependence on foreign oil, which is why the EPA must make it as strong as possible. I will continue to fight to ensure that the final rule is good for Iowa."

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Friday, May 29, 2015

Davenport, IA- After over 20 years of service in the Quad City Area, Flowerama on Eastern Avenue and Kimberly Road in Davenport is closing its doors due to owner's retirement. The store's last official day of business is today, May 29. The store will be closed over the weekend of May 30 & 31. The store will reopen on Monday, June 1 to liquidate inventory.

About Flowerama

Flowerama in Davenport was a locally owned franchise opportunity. The Flowerama Corporation, with headquarters in Cedar Falls, IA, still owns and operates several other Flowerama franchsie locations nationwide.

 

Contact

To learn more about the Flowerama Corporation visit: www.flowerama.com

Thumbtack.com and Bloomberg Release Survey of More Than 10,000 Nationwide Respondents;

Broad Improvement Seen Over 2+ Years of Data Collected So Far
Shows a Slow and Steady Recovery

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- May 19, 2015 -- Thumbtack.com today released the Thumbtack Small Business Sentiment Survey, a first-of-its-kind survey that captures the economic sentiment of more than 10,000 small businesses nationwide on a monthly basis, including 450 responses over two years in Iowa. Starting today, and released on a monthly basis going forward, the survey and accompanying visualization allow anyone to explore American small business economic sentiment at the national and local level. Designed with Bloomberg, all data will be housed and integrated seamlessly into the economic functions of the Bloomberg Professional service.

The U.S. Economic Census shows that over 90% of small businesses in the United States have five employees or fewer. Thumbtack's survey is the first small business survey whose respondents reflect this specific demographic. While there are various indexes and surveys that seek to measure small business sentiment, there are no other surveys that have enough responses from businesses of this size to examine results at a state or city level.

Via its network of more than 150,000 active service professionals, Thumbtack has the unique capability to regularly survey this otherwise difficult-to-reach population.

"We are excited to be able to share this new survey, which will capture the sentiment of thousands of small businesses nationwide on a monthly basis," said Jon Lieber, Chief Economist of Thumbtack. "Many of these business owners have few or no employees, and are often overlooked in other widely-tracked business surveys. We hope to offer new insights and a better understanding into what's happening in this critical segment of the nation's workforce and the American economy."

The inaugural version of the survey shows a slow and steady recovery among Iowa's smallest businesses:

• Iowa's small business sentiment has grown steadily over the last year alongside businesses in the Midwest and the nation more broadly.
• Missouri and Minnesota small businesses rate themselves as slightly ahead of those in Iowa. However, Iowa small businesses rate themselves as slightly ahead of those in Illinois and Wisconsin.
• Iowa small businesses have inflation expectations that are 4.5% higher than those from a year ago, on par with businesses nationally.
• Small business in Idaho were most optimistic about their future financial situation -- their optimism has increased 21% in the last nine months, significantly faster than the rest of the country.
• One particularly bright spot for Iowa small businesses is the credit environment. Iowa small businesses rate in the top 20% nationally for expectations of credit changes in the coming months -- they believe they'll be able to get loans to help their businesses grow.

The full results for Iowa can be seen here and include details on the relative sentiment of each state and city, how businesses in each area responded to survey questions, and hundreds of quotes from small businesses nationwide. Each state and city also has its own dedicated webpage showing detailed survey results for that area.

Bloomberg Professional service customers can access this data and additional industry level analysis at {ECST T TACKUSBS <GO>}.

Survey methodology
Thumbtack.com has surveyed tens of thousands of small businesses quarterly since December 2012. The survey asked questions about how small businesses are feeling about the general economic environment and health of their business, such as:

• How would you rate your company's financial situation today?
• Have you attempted to fill any part-time or full-time positions over the past three months?
• How do you expect the prices you charge to your clients or customers to change over the next three months?

Thumbtack.com and Bloomberg then used the survey responses to create a weighted index that demonstrates Small Business Economic Sentiment in one easy-to-understand number between 0 and 100 - an index score above 50 means sentiment is positive; an index score below 46 means sentiment is negative. The full methodology paper can be found here. Beginning in March, 2015, Thumbtack began collecting results monthly for this new survey. Survey results will be released the last week of the month going forward.

For more information about the survey or the methodology, please email Thumbtack's Chief Economist Jon Lieber at jon.lieber@thumbtack.com.

About Thumbtack
Thumbtack is a consumer service that helps millions of people accomplish the personal projects that are central to their lives. Launched in December 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, Thumbtack introduces customers to experienced professionals who are available, interested and qualified to meet their specific needs. Whether looking for a painter for their home, a math tutor for their child, or a DJ for their wedding, Thumbtack provides anyone in the U.S. with an easy and dependable way to get started, compare options, and hire with confidence. Thumbtack helps customers with 5+ million projects per year by introducing them to available and qualified professionals within hours. With service professionals representing more than 950 categories and operating in all 50 U.S. states, the company currently has more than 150,000 paying professionals available for customers. Thumbtack has raised a total of $150 million from Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, Javelin Venture Partners, and Google Capital.