Reid: Patent Reform a Top Priority (Sort Of)

Sen. Harry Reid made a statement today on the floor of the U.S. Senate, outlining Democrats’ legislative priorities for the first session of 2008. While patent reform was mentioned as a "priority" in Reid's speech, it appears that it will have to wait its turn in the legislative agenda:

Together we must address these growing challenges, both foreign and domestic. Here at home, that starts with an economic stimulus package . . . We will meet with President Bush today to continue working out this plan. While we await the results of the discussions on the stimulus package, we will begin the year by addressing other important priorities.

First, the bipartisan Indian Health Care Improvement Act . . . We will also return to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance bill. Democrats maintained last year that we must pass a FISA law that gives our law enforcement officials the tools they need to fight terrorism without infringing on the fundamental rights of law-abiding Americans . . . Passing the Defense Authorization bill — again — is also a top priority for this work period.

Once we work these issues out, time permitting, we will also turn to two other priorities in this first work period: patent reform and an energy package.

Read Reid's speech in its entirety here (link)

UPDATE: According to the IPO, Senator Leahy will “attempt to pass a revised version of S. 1145 in the Senate in February.” (see Patently-O)