NEWS OF THE WEEK
safety board agree on public disclosure of accident material
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HE U.S. COAST GUARD (USCG) has approved a slide presentation to be given by the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) at an April 23 public meeting at Institute, W.Va. The meeting deals with the board’s ongoing investigation of a deadly plant accident at the Bayer CropScience facility there. Community meetings are a normal part of the board’s process of investigating chemical plant accidents. However, Bayer objected to the public release of information it supplied to CSB, saying the material might aid terrorists and is protected as “sensitive security information” under the Maritime Transportation Safety Act. Bayer must comply with this law because its facility is located on a waterway. MTSA is overseen by USCG, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The convoluted review process involving CSB and USCG is likely to become more common as chemical
PATENT REFORM BILL ADVANCES INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Diverse
stakeholders endorse bid to overhaul U.S. patent law
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HE SENATE Judiciary Committee passed a com-
promise patent reform bill after a trio of senators said they had resolved several contentious issues, including how to calculate damage awards in patent infringement lawsuits. Disagreement over these issues mainly pitted high-tech companies against drugmakers and manufacturers. The legislation (S. 515), which the committee passed before Congress’ spring recess, will now be considered by the full Senate. It has been embraced by a variety of interest groups that have been fighting for more than six years over how to revise U.S. patent law, which has not been overhauled since 1952. “Patent reform is urgently needed,” says Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), committee chairman and bill cosponsor. “The agreement this committee has reached to move forward with patent reform is the culmination of months of arduous negotiations and compromise. Working together, we can make the necessary, long-overdue improvements our patent reform system requires.”
The reform effort has been pushed by high-tech companies in the computer software and electronics hardware industries that want to reduce patent litigation and limit damages for infringement to deter frivolous lawsuits. But biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing firms have expressed fear that such changes would reduce the value of their intellectual property and invite more infringement. Leahy and Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) amended the bill to include a key compromise, agreeable to all sides, that will allow judges to act as “gatekeepers” and help juries determine appropriate damages. “While no compromise is ever perfect, we believe the committee’s product breaks the logjam on the major issues that have held up patent Leahy reform for the past several Congresses and will clear the path for a bill to be completed without undue delay,” Biotechnology Industry Organization President James C. Greenwood said in a statement. A broad coalition of nearly 50 global corporations, including Dow Chemical, DuPont, Eli Lilly & Co., and Novartis, called the compromise amendments “a major breakthrough” that should move the bill “toward consensus and, hopefully, ultimate enactment by the Congress.” A group representing Silicon Valley giants such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Cisco has also endorsed the measure. Similar patent reform legislation (H.R. 1260) is awaiting action in the House.—GLENN HESS
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The U.S. Coast Guard oversees security efforts of chemical plants on waterways, like this one at the Houston Ship Channel.
NEWSCOM
INVESTIGATION: Coast Guard,
companies, CSB, and DHS are affected by new security regulations. Some 10,000 facilities are covered under MTSA and another similar security law. CSB canceled the meeting once before because of Bayer’s objections. In a compromise, CSB agreed to allow USCG to screen material to be released at the meeting (C&EN, March 23, page 10). After its review, USCG found only one fact in the presentation that could not be made public: the time of day methyl isocyanate is transferred from a receiving dock on the Kanawha River to the plant. CSB agreed to strike the information from its slides. USCG wants to draw up a memorandum of understanding to smooth future negotiations, USCG spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Christopher O’Neil says. However, John Bresland, CSB’s chair, says the board will ask Congress for direction before negotiating with USCG. “We pride ourselves on being a public agency and getting information out in our reports, videos, and so forth,” he tells C&EN. The Bayer investigation has generated 28,000 pages of material, Bresland notes, and if CSB must go through this process with every investigation, “it is really going to make our lives complicated.”—JEFF JOHNSON JEFF JOHNSON/C&EN
ACCIDENT DATA OKAY FOR RELEASE
