Senate Passes Bill to Overhaul Patent System

WASHINGTON — A little more than an hour before President Barack Obama's address to Congress on job creation, the Senate has passed and sent him an overhaul of the U.S. patent system that Obama has long endorsed as one way to promote innovation and put Americans back to work.

Proving that Congress can, on occasion, put aside its partisan differences, the Senate passed a bill that supporters say will streamline the patent process, reduce costly legal battles and give the patent office the money it needs to process patent applications more quickly.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont says passage of the bill will help the country compete with the rest of the world.