How do we know? The Republican presidential candidate wrote as much in a Nov. 15 letter to Tom Irving of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, a law firm that helped Romney with his fundraising and reps Glaxo, which just scored a big court win against US patent officials.

The Glaxo win, for those who may not recall, involved new rules from the US Patent and Trademark Office that were scheduled to go into effect on Nov. 1. Citing a threat to its right to inventions, Glaxo filed a lawsuit seeing to prevent the USPTO from moving ahead. But US District Court Judge Jim Cacheris in Virginia delayed the implementation, a move that Romney also applauded in his letter (first reported by PLI Blog).

Glaxo claims the new rules are arbitrary and will prevent it from pursuing patent applications and obtaining patents on or more of its inventions, especially since the drugmaker has hundreds of various types of applications in the works. In essence, Glaxo fears the new rules will make it harder to make such filings, therefore threatening its investments. You can the background here and the judge’s ruling here.

“With his preliminary injunction against the PTO, Judge Cacheris emphasized the importance of a dependable patent system to protect the significant investment capital of innovators,” Romney writes Irving. “I applaud his decision. If I am privileged to serve as President of the United States, a tenet of my administration will be to strengthen the U.S. patent system and immunize it from the type of anti-innovation governmental meddling duly enjoined by Judge Cacheris.”

And if elected, Mitt promises to ensure that the Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the PTO will be a distinguished US patent lawyer with many years of experience; propose to Congress and/or support only such patent reform legislation as will strengthen the U.S. patent system; and carefully consider appointing to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as vacancies arise, excellent lawyers who have experience practicing US patent law, particularly since all decisions in patent cases by the United States district courts are appealable to the Federal Circuit.

Hat tip to the PLI Blog