Reflections In the Aftermath of the Chinese Earthquake
Yan Lin: Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 | 10:00 am
NOTE: The following is a first-hand account of the recent earthquake in China, as recalled by Yan Lin, Symantec’s government relations manager in China:
It was 2:28 in the afternoon of May 19, Monday, I stood in silence on the street near our office in Beijing Oriental plaza, shoulder to shoulder with my colleagues, strangers, elders, toddlers who were passing by the busy downtown street at that moment. Cars stopped at the sides of the street with the drivers sounding their horns, shops and restaurants closed for a few minutes, and sirens wailed across Beijing. But it was not just Beijing, it was the whole country of China that grounded to a halt for three minutes in a wail of grief to mourn the tens of thousands of victims who died in one of the worst earthquakes in decades. This was the largest ever mourning activity in China, and perhaps even in human history given the size of China’s population – three consecutive memorial days with all amusement and sports activities suspended, including the ceremonies for relaying the Olympic torches.
Seven days back to May 12th, at 2:28, an earthquake, magnitude 8.0, struck Sichuan province of China. Those who have never been to China before may never have heard of Sichuan province I am sure they have heard of the giant panda, whose hometown is in Sichuan and for which one of their last homes -- the Wolong Nature Reserve and panda breeding center-- was right smack in Wenchuan County, the epicenter of the earthquake!
My heart went out to those who lost their loved ones, their homes, their belongings, and also to the Wolong pandas experiencing such a terrible shock. What a coincidence it is to find that my recent work has a kind of connection with the black-and-white bear and the Wolong Nature Reserve.
Tai Shan is FAUX PAW’s new panda friend from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. The parents of the real Taishan are coming from the Wolong Nature Reserve. In the new iKeepsafe book- “ FAUX PAW Goes To The Games”, the web-surfing Techno Cat gets invited to light the flame at the Great Animal Olympics in Beijing. On her way to the games she gets distracted by online games that she just can’t stop playing. Tai Shan comes to the rescue when FAUX PAW’s internet addiction threatens to ruin her big moment.
As the local representative of the public affairs team, it was my role to help get the book published and also family-online safety programs initiated in China so that more children have a chance to read this marvelous book and become friends with Tai Shan and FAUX PAW. Under very tight resources and timeline, my months-long work achieved rewarding results. The book was printed out on May 10th; a book launch was scheduled at May 16th; and Jackie Leavitt, the founder of iKeepsafe, hosted the event. She was joined by her husband, HHS Secretary Leavitt during his visit to China to support the message of keeping children’s online behavior healthy. All these arrangements seemed to have arrived at the very right moment and they have an extra meaning and significance after the earthquake on 12th. At the beginning of the event on 16th, Jackie expressed her deep sympathy and care about victims caused by the earthquake and praised Symantec’s earthquake relief efforts and our consistent social responsibility work. I was told the event went very well ending with Jackie reading the story to attentive students. I wish I could have been on the scene to experience that moving moment, but I was unable to, as I was far away at that time in San Diego for our legal offsite meeting.
On the way back to the office after a three-minute silence on the street on 19th, I knew my life ahead would not be the same. Apart from my work commitment, I would be a volunteer like many other ordinary Chinese in the coming years to spare time with those who lost everything in the earthquake; with a three-age-old girl named Song Xinying, who lost a leg and survived but whose parents did not make it as they held each other’s hands and shoulders face-to-face to form an arch to shield their daughter from the falling blocks; or with Wolong pandas starting a new life in Beijing Zoo.
U.S. Patent Reform Stalls in the Senate; Remains a Topic of Interest Before Congress
Kevin Richards, manager, U.S. Government Federal Affairs: Thursday, June 5th, 2008 | 4:00 pm
For the past two years, Joe Fitzgerald, Vice President of Legal and Deputy General Counsel, and I have been coordinating Symantec’s efforts to pass patent reform legislation in Congress. Symantec and other leading high tech firms have increasingly become the target of frivolous lawsuits by patent speculators resulting in large settlements which hinder greater investment in innovation by our company.
Symantec joined the Coalition for Patent Fairness (www. patentfariness.org) a coalition of high tech, telecommunications, rural farming organizations and financial services firms in favor of meaningful patent reform legislation. The CPF believes that the following principles should drive patent reform:
- "Damage awards should be based on common sense standards. In a world where a device can be made up of thousands of patented components, patent infringement damages should be proportionate to the value of the component in question rather than the entire product."
- "The standard for assessing "willful infringement" - which triggers a tripling of ordinary damages - must ensure "willful" damages are only assessed where there is truly egregious conduct and all parties' right to counsel is protected."
- "To encourage companies to keep their R&D programs in the U.S., patent laws governing how global damages are awarded should be revised so that foreign companies are not advantaged over U.S.-based companies."
- "The practice of "forum shopping" should end, ensuring patent lawsuits are resolved in courts that have a reasonable connection to the underlying claim
The push to reform the U.S. patent system tracks back to February 2003 with the publication of the USPTO's 21st Century Strategic Plan. Other studies followed, identifying key areas for reform: improving the quality of patents, litigation reform i.e. venue and damages provisions, and harmonization of U.S. patent law with the laws of the U.S.'s major trading partners.
In 2007, identical bills, H.R. 1908 and S. 1145, were introduced in the House and Senate, with the expectation that refinements would be made during the legislative process. H.R. 1908, with amendments, was passed on September 7, 2007. But when the 110th Congress adjourned its first session in December, the full Senate had not acted on its amended version of the bill.
U.S. Senate negotiations on sweeping reform of the patent system foundered late last month as ongoing disputes over key damages and inequitable conduct provisions - and possible squabbling over confirmation of federal judges - resulted in S 1145 being pulled from the floor schedule for the time being. “We are not going to do a patent bill now,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), because the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee cannot agree on the text, he said on 10 April.
But while prospects for the bill’s immediate passage have dimmed, it is not yet dead, many observers conclude. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) intended to announce that a revised version of the measure would be brought to the Senate floor by mid April. The plan derailed when Leahy failed to agree on several provisions with the panel’s ranking member, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA).
The principal sticking point for Senator Specter is the issue of how to assess damages in patent infringement lawsuits. The Senators thought they had reached agreement, but the language continued to shift, so there is no deal on the package. The current draft allows damages of “no less than a reasonable royalty” calculated on either the entire market value of the invention, an established royalty based on marketplace licensing, or the proportional contribution of a patented component. Judges and juries must establish an invention’s “specific contribution over prior art” to gauge the actual harm of an infringement. The provision is unpopular with some pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, labor unions and others.
Senator Specter said later, as reflected by the Congressional Record, that some in the Republican Party want to hold up S 1145 to pressure Democrats to confirm several judicial nominations. Specter’s earlier comments drew criticism from Leahy, who complained that “just a handful of words” had stalled work on a key piece of legislation. The time for patent reform is now, Leahy said. “Unfortunately, some have yet to fully grasp this fact.”
I will continue to inform our blog readers of new developments in Congress on our efforts to pass patent reform. Please stay tuned.