Senator Patrick Leahy is hailing the signing into law by President Barack Obama the first significant reform of America’s patent laws since the early 1950s.
Leahy says he worked for six years on the legislation, which is designed to make it easier for inventors to get their creations through the patent process and to market.
Leahy says the measure is especially important in Vermont, which has the highest number of patents per capita in the nation.
The bill is meant to ensure that the patent office, now facing a backlog of 1.2 million pending patents, has the money to expedite the application process. It now takes an average of three years to get a patent approved.