Pending Patent Legislation: What to Expect if It Passes
In 2025, Congress is occupied with serious legislative issues, among which are some pending patent issues. Time will tell if these pending pieces of patent legislation, some of which have been pending for a year or more, will see the light of day in the current Congressional Session. However, it is worth at least taking a look at these proposed pieces of legislation to determine and understand how the patent laws may be affected by their potential passage. There are at least four pieces of proposed patent legislation that are pending: The ETHICS Act (Eliminating Thickets to Increase Competition Act)[1] This legislation was introduced with bipartisan support from Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and basically limits the number of drug patents that can be asserted by the patent holder of the drug patents. This Act would apply to Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) or 505(b)(2) or biosimilar drug applications (BLA) litigation. The Act states that a person who brings a patent infringement action under 35 U.S.C. section 271 (e), described in subparagraph (B) (generic or biosimilar), can only assert one patent per PATENT GROUP. A PATENT GROUP is defined as meaning two or more commonly owned patents or patent applications subject to a terminal disclaimer. If passed, this Act...