Statement of Dean Kamen - President DEKA Research & Development Corp. Before the Committee on the Judiciary United States House of Representatives April 30 2009 - Testimony on U.S. Patent Reform

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Gloria

Dean Kamen, President of DEKA Research & Development Corp., testifies before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary on April 30, 2009. He argues that strong patent protection is essential to protect innovation, encourage high-risk investment, improve patent quality through effective examination, and ensure adequate funding for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He warns that provisions in H.R. 1260 affecting damages and post-grant review could weaken incentives for inventors, harm the economy, and increase litigation risk.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Opening Statement

Role and Perspective as an Inventor

Importance of Patent Protection

Incentives for Innovation

Public Benefits of Patents

Patent Quality and Examination

PTO Resources and Examiner Capability

Funding and Administrative Reform

Patent Fee Diversion and Fee Authority

Damages and Post-Grant Challenges

Risks to Incentives and Litigation

Statement of Dean Kamen President DEKA Research & Development Corp. Before the Committee on the Judiciary United States House of Representatives April 30, 2009 Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today at this important hearing. I am Dean Kamen, the President of DEKA Research & Development Corp., a technology development company based in Manchester, New Hampshire that I founded in 1982. Having been awarded more than 130 U.S. patents, I am pleased to speak to you today from the perspective of an inventor. As a businessman whose small company relies heavily on intellectual property, I feel that maintaining strong patent protection for America's inventors, and thus stimulating American innovation, is more critical now than ever. Some of the provisions in H.R. 1260, the Patent Reform Act of 2009 – including the reduction of damages awarded to a patent holder whose patent has been found infringed and the various expansions of post-grant review – are very troubling. These provisions, as well as other provisions of H.R. 1260, have the very real potential of undermining innovation, weakening the U.S. economy, and driving more jobs overseas. I read with great interest President Obama’s recent comments to the National Academy of Sciences regarding the importance of research and development and the key role of innovation in securing the economic future of the United States. I was very pleased to see President Obama’s efforts to increase innovation by fostering the next generation of scientists and engineers, an effort that I have been involved with for nearly twenty years through FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, [www.usfirst.org](www.usfirst.org)). As President Obama said, stimulating innovation is critical, but cannot be driven by Government investment alone. We must incentivize American companies to invest even more in research and development in light of our current economic situation. I am convinced that this can only be accomplished with a strong patent system. I would like to offer the following specific observations as the Congress considers how to maintain and, hopefully, improve our country's patent system: 1. The purpose of the patent system in the United States, as set forth in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution, is to "promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries. " 2. The public is benefited in many ways by this bargain. Most obviously, the right to exclude others from practicing the invention for a period of years is a powerful incentive that encourages the significant and high risk investment of money and time necessary to create innovations. The public also benefits because, in disclosing their ideas and inventions contained in the patent disclosures, patent holders are advancing the state of the art and setting the bar over which all competitive inventors are encouraged to leap, thus providing the public with access to an ever greater number of alternative solutions to important problems. Finally, the public also gains when the technology enters the public domain at the end of the patent term. 3. A strong patent system, at its core, must ensure that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues patents of the highest possible quality. Any patent reform aimed at improving the current system must fundamentally focus on: 1) improving patent quality prior to issuance and 2) reducing the duration of patent application pendency at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. To accomplish this, patent applications must be examined effectively by highly qualified examiners, using the best available technology and prior art. If we focus on finding more productive ways to improve the quality of patents and ensure that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has the resources that it needs to issue patent

FAQs

Why does Dean Kamen say strong patent protection is important?

He argues it is critical for protecting inventors’ intellectual property, sustaining innovation, and encouraging investment in research and development.

What does Kamen recommend to improve the patent system’s effectiveness?

He emphasizes two priorities: improving patent quality before issuance and reducing application pendency by ensuring effective examination by highly qualified examiners with strong resources.

How does Kamen view changes to patent damages and post-grant review in H.R. 1260?

He warns that lowering damages and expanding challenges after grant could reduce patent value, weaken incentives, and increase aggressive infringement and litigation burdens.

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Gloria