Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 16-4 to send an amended version of S. 1137, the Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act, to the full Senate for debate. The PATENT Act is this year’s leading Senate bill directed at curbing abusive patent litigation by non-practicing entities.

During the markup of the bill, the Judiciary Committee adopted a manager’s amendment adding a new section addressing inter partes review and post-grant review proceedings before the Patent and Trademark Appeals Board (PTAB). The changes respond to concerns raised by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies over perceived abuse of these proceedings. The new provisions explicitly state that a patent challenged in such proceedings “shall be presumed to be valid.” The provisions require that the PTAB apply the narrower claim construction standard followed by district courts, rather than the “broadest reasonable interpretation” standard the PTAB currently uses. The provisions also reduce the burden on patent owners seeking to amend claims during inter partes and post-grant reviews, though Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) explained that the current language on this issue was a “placeholder” for further negotiations as the bill moves to the Senate floor.