Prior user rights "would transform our patent system from one that values transparency to one that rewards secrecy."

The Sheboygan Press noted of an op-ed by Congressmen Jim Sensenbrenner and Tammy Baldwin:

But last week, Sensenbrenner and Baldwin co-wrote an op-ed on a bill to reform procedures in the U.S. Patent Office, specifically objecting to expansion of "prior user rights," which the two lawmakers contend will suffocate small business innovation and investments.

"Expansion of prior-user rights would give new rights to those who have previously developed and used the same process or product, even if they never publicly divulged their innovation and never applied for a patent," the lawmakers said. "It would transform our patent system from one that values transparency to one that rewards secrecy."

This, they said would have a disastrous effect on research at universities, including UW-Madison, which has benefited from protection of intellectual property rights through patents.

IPBiz notes that the Constitution empowers Congress in the following way:

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

Congress has the power to grant "the exclusive Right," not less than an exclusive Right.

***
See Sensenbrenner and Baldwin: Patent Bill Changes Threaten Economy