OPTICS E-NEWS
Published by the New Mexico Optics Industry Association
November 2007
NMOIA is starting a monthly OPTICS E-NEWS letter. This will be a monthly publication with news you can use. The OPTICS E-NEWS letters will be available on the NMOIA websitewww.nmoia.org. Sherry Robinson, former business editor of the Albq Trib, will be our writer, editor and publisher. If you have news items or tips contact Sherry at sherry@nmoia.org or 505-343-0852. Have an idea for a catchy name for the OPTICS E-NEWS letter? Email Sherry.
New Members
Please welcome new members: Dynatec, Academy Precision and CSA Engineering.
December 11 Meeting
Join us for a Holiday cocktail 5:30-7:30PM at the Hotel Albuquerque (the old Sheraton) on Rio Grande, price is $20, register at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=144984. Bring you colleagues, friends and family. This is a networking event involving optics, info tech and bio folks.
January 10 NMOIA Executive Roundtable (time and place TBA)
Compass bank will talk about electronic merchant services, preventing bank fraud, identity theft and increasing financial security. No cost for members or non-members. Includes a light breakfast.
Pushing the Optics Agenda
In October, NMOIA President Bill Goodman and Treasurer Ed Spivak met with Tom Bowles, Gov. Richardsons Science Advisor and requested his support to make optics/photonics development a priority in New Mexico. We also asked him to help level the playing field for NM companies that bid on optics/photonics project by adjusting compensating taxes. Bowles outlined his plans to ask for the creation of a high Technology Development Authority, to facilitate State support of promising technologies and companies.
State Healthcare
A major initiative by Gov. Richardson will be the establishment a Healthcare Authority. The Authority will act to combine risk pools, enable coverage for NMs 20% un-insured, require employers with 6+ employees to provide insurance, also provide an offset, for increased benefit costs, promote electronic medical records, require healthcare providers to spend 85% of premiums for direct healthcare services and more. ACI, with NMOIA participation, is working on a position.
Raising Energy Costs
Public Service of New Mexico (PNM) has filed for a rate increase, citing needs for increased infrastructure investments, raising materials costs. Briefly, demand is quickly exceeding supply. This could mean a substantial increase in energy costs.
Patent Reform Legislation
As of November 14, 2007 the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1145) is pending in the Senate. This bill will dramatically reduce the value of U.S. patents and result in increased patent litigation, resulting in increased costs. This legislation has passed the House of Representatives and is awaiting a floor vote in the Senate. Here is a summary of recent activities by those on both sides of the issue.
Recent Activities by Supporters of S. 1145.
1. Last month a letter signed by 120 organizations was sent to Congress stating support for the bill in its current form.
2. Last week supporters of S. 1145, the Coalition for Patent Fairness, persuaded six consumer organizations to support the bill.
3. Last week the bills sponsor, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), asked Senate leadership to schedule the bill for a floor vote in December.
4. This week CEOs of large companies supporting S. 1145 continue to pressure Senators for immediate passage of the bill through phone calls and private visits.
Recent Activities by Opponents/Parties Concerned about S. 1145.
1. Last month a letter signed by 430 organizations was sent to Congress stating opposition to the bill in its current form. Additional signatories continue to be added. For a copy, visit www.innovationalliance.org. Feel free to direct any new signatories to our attention and we will add them to the list.
2. The same week a fly-in and press conference occurred focusing on the bills negative impact on investment.
3. The following week a report was issued by economist and former vice presidential candidate Pat Choate on behalf of the U.S. Business and Industry Council refuting the basic premises of the bill. Notable among Choates findings were:
a. The cost of patent litigation for the major proponents of S. 1145 is miniscule less than one percent of revenues;
b. As a percentage of patents granted, patent litigation has not increased in 13 years;
c. Although they complain of patent trolls utilizing so-called rocket docket courts, the major proponents of S. 1145 bring cases in the rocket dockets at the same frequency as other litigants.
4. On October 29, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell wrote his Senators noting the need to maintain a strong patent system because of the importance of the biosciences industry to Pennsylvania.
5. Last week a letter from 31 venture capital firms around the country reinforced the message that S. 1145 as written will chill investment in new patents.
6. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), wrote to the bills sponsor pointing out problems with S. 1145. Klobuchar is the first Democratic Senator to write a letter of this nature.
In short, those on our side of the debate are doing tremendous work and stating clearly that S. 1145 as currently written is flawed and harmful. But the hurry-up efforts of the Coalition for Patent Fairness are very serious. Senators are under immense pressure from some of the largest companies in America to move the bill to a vote. Therefore we encourage those with concerns about the bill to continue to contact both their Senate offices. Please send e-mails and faxes and also take a moment to call your Senators. You can reach any Senate office through the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121. To reach the relevant staffer, ask for "the person handling patent reform" and let him/her know of your concerns about S. 1145, even if by voice mail.
Here are some talking points:
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*The Patent Reform Act (S. 1145) will reduce the value of patents.
*It was proposed by a group of very large companies from the Information Technology and Financial Services sectors in order to reduce their risk of infringement.
*The bill would reduce the cost of infringement by, for example, changing the way royalty damages are calculated and creating an unending post grant opposition" process. *Please do not support the bill in its current state. The bill's problems must be fixed before the bill comes to the Senate floor for a vote.
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Thanks again for your support on this crucial matter. Together we can stop a misguided effort to devalue intellectual property in the United States.
Stan Fendley
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Policy
Corning Incorporated
Washington, DC
Corning is a member of the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, www.patentsmatter.com
Bryan Lord
VP Finance and Licensing
AmberWave Systems Corporation
Salem, NH
AmberWave is a member of the Innovation Alliance, www.innovationalliance.org
State Legislative Positions
NMOIA belongs to the Association of Commerce and Industry (ACI) as the best way to give you a voice in the State Legislature. Specific ACIs priorities are: 1) support regulatory reform that promotes economic development, accountability and confidence in Government; 2) support accelerating development of all State infrastructure project, e.g. transportation, water, wastewater, energy and broadband; 3) opposes corporate unitary tax methods (could impact multi-state corporations), 4) supports ethics reform that creates a level playing field for all candidates, and 5) opposes businesses being responsible to enforce Social Security no-match letters. ACI takes positions on a broad range of issues. We believe these are the key ACI priorities for our member.
Setting National Standards for Photonics Education
NMOIA is a member of the OP-TEC Employer Council Members and provides guidance in forming the National Photonics Skill Standards for Technicians. To accomplish this, OP-TEC has put a short survey these standards on its website. This review will take no longer than 15 minutes to complete for each specialty area selected. The following directions will assist you in completing the survey:
- Go to www.op-tec.org , on the right side of the home page at the bottom is a link to the survey,
- Read material and follow directions on first three screens.
- Review specialty areas list and make additions/deletions.
- Select specialty area(s) in which your expertise resides.
- Review all critical work functions, tasks, technical skills, and employability skills related to the selected specialty area.
- Complete the personnel information form.
- Submit to OP-TEC by pressing the end button on the last page of the survey.
The results of this survey will form the foundation for developing curriculum and supporting materials to train and educate Americas photonics workforce.
People who supervise photonics technicians as well as photonics technicians themselves are well qualified to make substantive inputs to this review. Also, feel free to forward this survey to others. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thanks in advance for your help in this very important endeavor.
Albuquerque Tech Guide E-Published
The City of Albuquerque has published a tech guide that is a whos-who guide of Sandia, Los Alamos National Labs, the Universities, BioTech, Optics Info Tech, Electronics and Nano-Tech and much more. Its available at http://www.cabq.gov/econdev/documents/ABQTechGuide
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