Senate Review of Innovation Act Favors Practicing Entities Like
MMRGlobal
LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 23, 2013) - MMRGlobal, Inc.
(OTCQB: MMRF), through its wholly owned subsidiary
MyMedicalRecords, Inc. (collectively, "MMR"), a leading provider of
Personal Health Records (PHRs), MyEsafeDepositBox storage solutions
and electronic document management and imaging systems for
healthcare professionals, applauds lawmakers of the
Senate Judiciary Committee for efforts to protect the American
inventor. MMR called attention today to a December 17th
article published in Law360 about the debate on how to protect the
American inventor's right to patent without overburdening their
ability to enforce their patents because of alleged abusers of the
patent system. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Senate Judiciary
Committee Chairman, and Senators Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Richard
Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Richard Durbin (D-Illinois), Dianne
Feinstein (D-California), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island),
all voiced concerns about H.R. 3309, known as the Innovation Act,
and the adverse impact that it could have on inventors who are
practicing entities, small businesses and American
entrepreneurs.
MMR is a practicing entity with nine issued U.S. patents
covering numerous health information technology products and
services including Personal Health Records, MyEsafeDepositBox
storage solutions and professional document management and imaging
systems offered to healthcare providers. In addition to the U.S.,
MMR's patents are issued and pending in countries or regional
authorities around the world including Australia, Singapore, New
Zealand, Mexico, Japan, Canada, China, Hong Kong, South Korea,
Israel, and Europe.
Last Tuesday, December 17th, Chairman Leahy, who introduced a
less-sweeping bill in November called the Patent Transparency and
Improvements Act of 2013 (S. 1720), stated in the hearing titled
"Protecting Small Businesses and Promoting Innovation by Limiting
Patent Troll Abuse," that the measures in his bill "are balanced
and targeted to preserve the rights of legitimate patent holders
whose inventions help drive our economy." He urged the
Committee "to stay focused on that balance," which reflects what
MMR, as a practicing entity and patent holder, supports.
The senators took issue with the Innovation Act, originally
intended to make it more difficult for non-practicing entities to
file abusive patent suits, because the House bill includes changes
to patent law that could make it difficult for practicing entities
to file patent suits. This affects small businesses and the ability
for Americans to invent and protect their inventions, a right
originally granted in the U.S. Constitution.
Senator Chris Coons said the Senate must find a way to provide
small businesses with relief from frivolous suits by patent trolls
without making major changes that could weaken the overall patent
system, which he said is a task that is "clear but not
easy." Senators Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blumenthal said
the Senate should hold additional hearings to hear the views of
more interested parties before voting on any patent bills, reported
Law360.
"'I am wary of overkill. I'm wary of unintended consequences of
limiting patent rights without knowing what the end result will
be,' Blumenthal said. 'We have a very important obligation that we
first do no harm.' Sen. Richard Durbin said he is skeptical of
any plan whose 'premise is to reduce access to the judicial
system,' which he said appears to be the basis of several of the
proposed anti-patent-troll measures, which would change the
requirements for all patent lawsuits. 'If the goal is to create a
chilling effect on trolls that are abusing the system, it seems to
me this goes too far by reaching into meritorious claims.'"
MMRGlobal holds a growing patent portfolio, both in health
information technology (HIT) and biotech. Over the past two years,
MMR has received nine issued HIT patents directed at methods and
systems for providing online medical records and online records as
well us Rx management and wireless PHR applications. In biotech,
the Company has patents directed at anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies
and B-cell vaccines, with additional data from vaccine trials,
thousands of patient tumor samples and other intellectual property
targeted toward the fight against cancer. Although MMRGlobal
continues working to license and otherwise exploit an extensive
portfolio of biotech assets, it remains focused on its primary
health IT business.
About MMRGlobal MMRGlobal, Inc., through its wholly-owned
operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc., provides secure and
easy-to-use online Personal Health Records ("PHRs") and electronic
safe deposit box storage solutions, serving consumers, healthcare
professionals, employers, insurance companies, financial
institutions, retail pharmacies, and professional organizations and
affinity groups. The MyMedicalRecords PHR enables individuals and
families to access their medical records and other important
documents, such as birth certificates, passports, insurance
policies and wills, anytime from anywhere using the Internet.
MyMedicalRecords is built on proprietary, patented technologies to
allow documents, images and voicemail messages to be transmitted
and stored in the system using a variety of methods, including fax,
phone, or file upload without relying on any specific electronic
medical record platform to populate a user's account. The Company's
professional offering, MMRPro, is designed to give physicians'
offices an easy and cost-effective solution to digitizing
paper-based medical records and sharing them with patients through
an integrated patient portal. Through its merger with Favrille,
Inc. in January 2009, the Company acquired intellectual property
biotech assets that include anti-CD20 antibodies and data and
samples from its FavId™/Specifid™ vaccine clinical trials for the
treatment of B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. To learn more about
MMRGlobal, Inc. visit www.mmrglobal.com. View demos and video
tutorials of the Company's products and services at
www.mmrtheater.com.
Forward-Looking Statements All statements in this press release
that are not strictly historical in nature, including, without
limitation, intellectual property enforcement actions, infringement
claims or litigation, intellectual property licenses, and future
performance, management's expectations, beliefs, intentions,
estimates or projections, constitute "forward-looking statements."
Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause MMR's actual results
to be materially different from historical results or from any
results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Some can be identified by the use of words (and their derivations)
such as "need," "possibility," "potential," "intend," "offer,"
"development," "if," "negotiate," "when," "begun," "believe,"
"achieve," "will," "estimate," "expect," "maintain," "plan," and
"continue," or the negative of these words. Actual outcomes and
results of operations and the timing of selected events may differ
materially from the results predicted, and any reported results
should not be considered as an indication of future performance.
Such statements are necessarily based on assumptions and estimates
and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those
relating to the possible invalidity of the underlying assumptions
and estimates and possible changes or developments in economic,
business, industry, market, legal and regulatory circumstances and
conditions and actions taken or omitted to be taken by third
parties, including customers, suppliers, business partners,
potential licensees, competitors and legislative, judicial and
other governmental authorities and officials. Factors that could
cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not
limited to: unexpected outcomes with respect to intellectual
property enforcement actions, claims of intellectual property
infringement and general intellectual property litigation; our
ability to maintain, develop, monetize and protect our patent
portfolio for both MMR's health IT and biotechnology intellectual
property assets in the U.S. and internationally; the timing of
milestone payments in connection with licensing our intellectual
property; our ability to establish and maintain strategic
relationships; changes in our relationships with our licensees; the
risk MMR's products are not adopted or viewed favorably by the
healthcare community and consumer retail market; business
prospects, results of operations or financial condition; risks
related to the current uncertainty and instability in financial and
lending markets, including global economic uncertainties; the
timing and volume of sales and installations; the length of sales
cycles and the installation process; the market's acceptance of new
product and service introductions; competitive product offerings
and promotions; changes in government laws and regulations
including the 2009 HITECH Act and changes in Meaningful Use and the
2010 Affordable Care Act; future changes in tax legislation and
initiatives in the healthcare industry; undetected errors in our
products; the possibility of interruption at our data centers;
risks related to third party vendors; risks related to obtaining
and integrating third-party licensed technology; risks related to a
security breach by third parties; risks associated with recruitment
and retention of key personnel; other litigation matters;
uncertainties associated with doing business internationally across
borders and territories; and additional risks discussed in MMR's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. MMR is
providing this information as of the date of this release and,
except as required by applicable law, does not undertake any
obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in
this release as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
CONTACT: Michael Selsman Public Communications Co.
ms@publiccommunications.biz (310)
922-7033