Talk:Who should see Patent Absurdity in 2010

House and Senate committees

What about the following House committees?

• Committee on the Judiciary: http://judiciary.house.gov/
• Committee on Energy and Commerce: http://energycommerce.house.gov/
• House and Senate Joint Economic Committee: http://jec.senate.gov/public/

And these Senate committees:

• Commerce, Science and Transportation: http://commerce.senate.gov/public/
• Small Business and Entrepreneurship: http://sbc.senate.gov/public/

Software patents are an economic issue that is killing U.S. businesses. Small businesses that do not have armies of lawyers or large patent portfolios are especially at risk.

Hi. Welcome. Whenever they discuss The Patent Reform Act, it seems to always be in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Does that mean that that committee has exclusive power over patent issues, or is it possible for other committees to seize the dossier or at least send recommendations to the Senate Judiciary Committee?

I haven't checked yet which House committee has dealt with past patent issues. Ciaran 20:22, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I would think getting information to those who deal with commerce issues is important as well, because even if a bill doesn't originate with those particular committees their members can introduce legislation. Also, influencers are often as important as decision makers, and since this is a commerce issue as well as a legal one I would want those who deal with commerce issues on our side.

Ok, sounds like it makes sense. Any suggestions for how can we find which people that deal with commerce issues are interested in patents? Ciaran 22:55, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I would start with the members of the committees I suggested above. Any cover letter should emphasize how software patents are killing American competitiveness, hurting small software businesses and costing our corporations billions of dollars.

I looked around those links (thanks) and have updated the page with what I think are the most relevant subcommittees, or comments about the committees. Our person-time resources for writing cover letters is really limited, so it's important to find decision makers that have some interest in patents. Any more help with the page content is very welcome. Ciaran 03:06, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Updating for 2014?

Steve Jobs died a couple of years ago. Shouldn't his name be removed from the list? User:Ssdclickofdeath

I've replaced his name but it's probably not worthwhile maintaining this page. Many other people in the list have surely changed jobs. The page's value now is a historical record or a starting point for building a similar list in future. I'll put a notice at the top. Ciaran (talk) 10:47, 2 January 2014 (EST)

Update: I've also changed the name of the page to make it clear that this is a 2010 document. If we decide to make a new similar document we can make a new page or change the name of this one again. Ciaran (talk) 20:23, 3 January 2014 (EST)