Who’s behind the last-minute push to thwart patent reform?

Grousing about oligarchs, special interests, and the political system as a whole is unproductive and misguided. After all, patent reform has already passed with huge bipartisan support in the House of Representatives.<p>Instead, you should focus on the politician most responsible for blocking patent reform - Harry Reid, and the power he wields as Senate Majority Leader. He might not be up for re-election until 2016, but your donations and votes can help remove him from his position as majority leader in November.

Every day, it becomes more apparent that our democracy has been thwarted and overrun with oligarchs and special interests. Each party is beholden to its own oligarchs and the best solution I see is term limits of some sort. Politics shouldn&#x27;t be a career. Because it currently is a career, our politicians must cater to those who are their bosses. The people are no longer the boss and that is the core problem.<p>Even if this is an overreach that would &quot;treat every patent holder as a patent troll&quot; (a claim I find highly suspect), doing nothing has the effect of harming the very people that can move our economy forward, the innovators and entrepreneurs. When making a decision between a bill that helps this group versus trial lawyers, it&#x27;s unfortunate that our leadership chooses the latter to protect.

The top story on their homepage is about how some Fox News anchor got arrested at an airport bar. I am not convinced that Mr. Reid will be fearing for his job as a result of this little stunt.

Interesting to compare the Partnership for American Innovation with this list: <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2014-03-12/offshore-profits-avoid-irs-reach.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;infographics&#x2F;2014-03-12&#x2F;offshore-pr...</a><p>And, Apple and Microsoft have previously funded patent trolls (IV). And IBM has more than 50,000 patents and brings in over $1 billion annually in licensing revenue.

I wonder if the original framers of Constitutions around the world thought that one day the lawyers would ultimately rule public policy.

It&#x27;s establishment politicians on both sides who receive massive lobbying efforts from big hollywood and the recording industry.<p>There is some young blood taking these issues seriously though: <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-party-of-innovation/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theamericanconservative.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;the-party-of...</a>

&quot;The bipartisan compromise on patents was headed for a markup on Thursday. But Leahy suddenly took it off the table after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) intervened at the last minute, according to multiple people close to the negotiations.&quot;<p>Would these be multiple Republican people? Kill the bill and blame it on Reid! Twofer!<p>Not saying its true, just awed by the credulity of some of the comments here.

As a small business owner, I applied for a patent that could protect my startup&#x27;s key innovation. I am actually glad that the patent &quot;reform&quot; as shelved. IMO, it is a far bigger threat to small business patent holders that a tech industry giant would ignore &#x2F; steal their IP, than to fall victim to a patent troll. If the proposed legislation goes through, simply trying to protect your own property could end up destroying you if you are forced to pay for the legal costs of the deep-pocketed industry player.