Patent Reform 2007 - Inventors' Voice TM: Instant Action Plan

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 House already passed bill H.R. 1908 on September 9, 2007. Now bill S. 1145 is pending a vote by the Senate, and is expected to be voted on, at any moment. If the Senate rejects and votes "no" on S. 1145, both bills will be dead! This is the goal!

In our opinion, many inventors are not aware of the 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!

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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 rational, respectful, and professional, and refrain from using profanities and/or negative, emotionally charged comments.

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 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 S. 1145, known as the Patent Reform Act of 2007. (See issues here)(See bill S. 1145 here)

(Then, State your views and opinions:)
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 Patent Reform Act of 2007 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 “S. 1145”, 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” , along with the infringement 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 S. 1145 and the Patent Reform Act of 2007 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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2. WHO TO CONTACT:

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YOUR THREE (3) STATE REPRESENTATIVES:

The bill S. 1145 is being voted in the Senate. So definitely 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!

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

Even though the House already approved their bill H.R. 1908, if you have a few minutes, it would also help to let your local state representative hear from you, even now, so he/she is aware of your opposition to the patent reform.

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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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
Title: Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. Senate
Address: 433 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4242
Email: %%%senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov
Web site: leahy.senate.gov
(Note: remove the three percentage characters [%%%] from the email address, they were added to prevent spam.)

THE HONORABLE HOWARD BERMAN
Title: Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary: Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
Address: 2221 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0528
Phone: (202) 225-4695
Fax: (202) 225-3196
Web site: www.house.gov/berman
Email: %%%howard.berman@mail.house.gov
(Note: remove the three percentage characters [%%%] from the email address, they were added to prevent spam.)

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 CARLOS M. GUTIERREZ
Title: U.S. Secretary of Commerce
U.S. Department of Commerce
Address: 1401 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20230
Phone: (202) 482-2112
Fax: (202) 482-2741
Email: %%%CGutierrez@doc.gov
(Note: remove the three percentage characters [%%%] from the email address, they were added to prevent spam.)

THE HONORABLE JON W. DUDAS
Title: Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, and Director
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Crystal Plz. 3, Rm. 2C02, PO Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313
(703) 308-4357
Email: Email Jon Dudas

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3. CHAIN PROTEST EMAIL BLITZ: THE POWER OF MULTIPLICATION

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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 of Senate bill S.1145. 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, in addition to the emails, it will add much more impact to your effort.

REMEMBER...
1) Contacting your two senators 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 2007. Stephen Paul Gnass. All Rights Reserved.

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