Google, Amazon Invited to Talk Patent Eligibility With Lawmakers (1)

Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Amazon.com Inc., and other companies and groups have been invited by lawmakers to a closed-door Capitol Hill meeting Dec. 12 to discuss potential legislation to rework the definition of patent eligibility.

Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) also invited Apple Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Ericsson Inc., pharmaceutical industry group PhRMA, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, among others, according to an email invitation obtained by Bloomberg Law. A Coons spokesman confirmed the meeting.

Several U.S. court decisions in recent years have left technology and pharmaceutical companies unsure of whether their inventions are patentable under federal law. Tillis ...