The TPL Group Adds ''Legislation'' Forum to Website to Review Sweeping Changes Proposed by the Patent Reform Act of 2007

CUPERTINO, Calif.--  June 14, 2007 --The TPL Group today announced the addition of a special “Legislation” forum to its website (www.tplgroup.net/legislation) to disseminate information regarding the Patent Reform Act of 2007 now before Congress and the potential impact it can have on America’s innovation momentum. The new section, which also reviews recent Supreme Court decisions that have substantially weakened the Patent System over the past year, provides full text of the proposed Act along with links to several pertinent resources.

According to Dan Leckrone, Chairman of The TPL Group, "If enacted, the so-called ‘Patent Reform Act’ will dramatically weaken our venerable Patent System, sound the death knell to the current venture capital system, and trigger a dramatic decline in the ability of the US to compete around the world. Indeed, this legislation will strip the US of its richest source of innovation, namely the Individual Inventor." He noted that over the past 18 months the Patent System has undergone dramatic weakening in the Supreme Court at the urging of “Patent-intensive Goliaths” such as Microsoft and Intel, and that the Patent System does not need a major overhaul as proposed by the Act, but simply fine-tuning measures.

Acknowledging that the authors of the bill before Congress may have had good intentions, Leckrone cautioned that the sweeping changes, if enacted, would favor infringers over inventors. “The irony behind this legislation is that its prime supporters are companies that have established dominance over their industry by availing themselves of the very same Patent System they now wish to weaken.

“Further irony is found in the fact that the bill now before Congress is similar to unsuccessful previous efforts, and has given little or no consideration to the dramatic changes implemented by the Supreme Court in the interim,” added Leckrone. “The bill represents ‘piling on’ in a very real and dangerous form since the ‘unintended consequences’ of the judicial changes are not yet fully understood.”

Within TPL’s “Legislation” website are recent letters written to Congress from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Department of Commerce, both of which express serious concern about the extensive changes proposed by the Act. This mounting concern is also evident among a growing number of coalitions and trade associations including the Innovation Alliance (www.innovationalliance.net), the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform (www.patentsmatter.com), the BIO Technology Industry Association (www.bio.org) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (www.phrma.org).

About The TPL Group

Founded in 1988, Technology Properties Limited (The TPL Group) has emerged as a global coalition of high technology enterprises involved in the development, management and commercialization of Intellectual Property (IP) assets as well as the design, manufacture and sales of proprietary products based on these same IP assets. Among the advanced products that The TPL Group enterprises continue to bring to market are system-on-chip solutions for distributed digital media processing applications. For more information, visit www.tplgroup.net.