This lame duck marches on

The lame duck Congress continues to consider patent issues, and the possibility of some legislative action in the waning days continues to loom.  The bill with the greatest chance of survival as law appears to be Representative Issa’s pilot program that’s designed to encourage enhancement of expertise in patent cases among district court judges (HR 5418).

The bill has passed the House and a companion bill (S. 3923), which was introduced by Senator Hatch, currently sits with the Senate Judiciary Committee awaiting markup.

Can the bill get onto the Committee’s undoubtedly busy December schedule?