Bryan Pate presented his views at a hearing on patent reform held by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. (March 27, 2015)— Today, ElliptiGO Inc., the creator of the world’s first elliptical bicycle, announced that their CEO, Bryan Pate, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet at a hearing held on March 25th, 2015 at the Capitol. The hearing was titled “Patent Reform: Protecting American Innovators and Job Creators from Abusive Patent Litigation.” Pate was one of four witnesses and the only representative from a company that makes a consumer product.
“It was an honor and privilege to be invited to provide my perspective on the patent reform bill currently pending in the House.” Pate said. “The dialogue was lively and it is clear to me and some members of the subcommittee that there are elements of this pending legislation that will adversely impact companies like mine who make a patented product that can easily be copied by unscrupulous competitors overseas or here in the US. I support ending abusive litigation practices, but I’m concerned this bill will have unintended consequences that will result in the bill doing more harm than good.”
The bill at issue is H.R. 9, known as the Innovation Act. The text of the bill is available on the House of Representatives website. It is expected to move to the House floor soon for a vote. Pate’s position is supported by a large and broad coalition of technology companies, consumer product companies, biotechnology companies, universities, inventors and venture capitalists who share similar concerns about the pending legislation.