Recent bipartisan patent reform push just smoke?

A letter from 25 senators to Harry Reid included the text:

The bipartisam Managers' Amendment to S.515 released by the Judiciary Committee would speed the patent application process, reduce the three-year wait that inventors must endure before obtaining their patents and securing the funding needed to place new products on the market. This comprehensive patent reform legislation would also allow the public to bring forward relevant information to the USPTO during the patent examination process and after the patent has been granted, improving the clarity and quality of patents and providing greater confidence in their validity and enforceability. The Managers' Amendment would also move the U.S. patent system into greater harmony with the rest of the world and bring greater predictability to patent infringement litigation, enabling inventors and businesses to dedicate more resources to inventing and bringing those inventions to market.

HOWEVER, the response, mentioned in a WSJ blog, was tepid:

In a statement emailed to the NLJ, Reid’s deputy communications director, Regan Lachapelle, stated, “while this is an important issue, we have many items to consider before the end of the year and not much time to consider them.”