Highlight: Championing American Innovation During Intellectual Property Month
Innovators, creators, and policymakers across the country are celebrating Intellectual Property Month — an annual commemoration of strong IP rights, the visionary inventors and creators who rely on them, and the life-changing breakthroughs they make possible.
Intellectual Property Month serves as a timely reminder that nearly every technology, life-saving invention, and creative work we rely on daily was made possible by strong patents, copyrights, trademarks, or trade secrets. America’s economic strength and global competitiveness depend on safeguarding this world-leading system. IP-intensive industries drive over 40% of U.S. private-sector GDP and support more than 60 million American jobs.
And as the United States continues to compete with China for global leadership in the technologies of the future — from life sciences to advanced manufacturing — maintaining strong patent protections will be essential to sustain investment and innovation. Lawmakers have a vital opportunity to unite behind pro-IP legislation that strengthens American industry, protects jobs, and helps ensure the United States remains a global leader in the technologies of the 21st century.
Throughout Intellectual Property Month, C4IP is highlighting the value of strong IP rights and building momentum for continued advocacy:
- C4IP is launching a social media series highlighting how IP rights have helped American inventors turn their ideas into impactful real-world technologies. Follow C4IP on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky for the latest updates.
- On October 6, C4IP Chief Policy Officer and Counsel Jamie Simpson spoke at World Intellectual Property Review’s annual Trade Secrets East 2026 conference in New York City. Learn more here.
- On October 7, C4IP Chief Policy Officer and Counsel Jamie Simpson discussed the current state of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) policy at the 2026 PTAB Bar Association Thought Leader Summit. Learn more here.
- On October 8, C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu delivered a keynote speech at San Francisco’s 2026 Via Bridge Summit, a conference on IP licensing and innovation policy. Learn more here.
- On October 14, C4IP President and CEO and former USPTO Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart will take part in a fireside chat on the future of American innovation with Rich Chylla, executive director of the University of Virginia Licensing & Ventures Group and former AUTM board chair. Learn more here.
- On October 20, C4IP President and CEO and former USPTO Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart will take the stage at the 2026 Licensing Executives Society International 2026 USA & Canada Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, for a fireside chat. Learn more here.
- C4IP President and CEO and former USPTO Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart recently joined the National Academy of Inventors’ Fellows Selection Committee, where she will help select fellows for the Class of 2026. Learn more about the fellows program here.
- Stay tuned for more programming, resources, and updates from C4IP in the weeks ahead!
Government Engagement
- On September 2, C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director David Kappos testified at a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence hearing on renewing the USPTO’s fee-setting authority. His testimony, along with a letter from C4IP, urged lawmakers to renew that fee-setting power long-term to give the agency stable funding to reduce backlogs, improve patent quality, and support inventors.
- On September 8, C4IP sent a letter to the Department of Commerce and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy following the September 1-2 G20 Innovation Ministerial, where ministers adopted shared principles on emerging technologies and innovation. C4IP applauded the agreement’s recognition of strong IP protections as essential to investment, commercialization, and technological leadership.
- On September 15, C4IP sent a letter to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet responding to misleading statements about terminal disclaimers made at its June hearing on medical innovation and access. C4IP explained the importance of terminal disclaimers to innovation, debunked the idea that they are duplicative, and urged lawmakers to reject the harmful ETHIC Act.
- On September 17, C4IP submitted comments in response to the U.S. Trade Representative’s request for public input on China’s compliance with World Trade Organization commitments. C4IP urged the agency to address shortcomings in China’s patent enforcement, pharmaceutical IP protections, trade secret safeguards, and efforts to combat counterfeiting.
- On September 23, C4IP sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property ahead of its September 29 hearing on USPTO oversight. C4IP urged lawmakers to strengthen the reliability of the patent system and ensure the USPTO continues its recent progress in modernizing patent application reviews.
Additional Coalition Updates
- On September 2, C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director David Kappos was quoted in IPWatchdog and Legis1 articles about the House Judiciary IP Subcommittee’s hearing on the USPTO’s fee-setting authority, where Kappos had testified in favor of renewing fee-setting authority long-term.
- On September 4, C4IP published a blog post warning families about dangerous counterfeit goods, from faulty laptop chargers to chemical-laden clothing, that they could encounter during back-to-school shopping and explaining how strong IP enforcement protects consumers’ health, safety, and wallets.
- On September 4, C4IP President and CEO Coke Morgan Stewart was quoted in an MLex article on the statements of interest the Justice Department has filed in recent AI-training copyright infringement cases, noting that C4IP supports both developing strong AI models and protecting creative works.
- On September 17, C4IP President and CEO Coke Morgan Stewart spoke on a Congressional Inventions Project panel on Capitol Hill, “The Scorecard: Is America or China Winning the Innovation Race?,” which discussed technological competition between the United States and China and how patent policy has affected America’s competitive edge.
- On September 23, C4IP President and CEO Coke Morgan Stewart was profiled in an Inventors Digest article that highlighted her record of strengthening patents and said she “could be the [USPTO’s] most consequential official of the decade.”
- On September 23, C4IP Chief Policy Officer and Counsel Jamie Simpson spoke on an IPWatchdog panel discussing how recent and proposed changes to patent policy could shape investment, competition, and the development of new medicines.
- On September 23, C4IP hosted a webinar on its recent Idea Factories report, featuring insights from experts including report author Professor Jonathan Barnett, C4IP President and CEO Coke Morgan Stewart, C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu, CSIS Non-Resident Expert Kirti Gupta, and bestselling author Safi Bahcall.
Watch Now: “Idea Factories: The Engine Behind America’s Innovation Economy”
- On September 24, C4IP President and CEO Coke Morgan Stewart was interviewed at IPWatchdog’s Women’s IP Forum, where she argued that it is time to “shock” the U.S. patent system by strengthening patent rights and more forcefully pushing back against attacks on IP.
- On September 29, C4IP President and CEO Coke Morgan Stewart joined the IP Protection Matters podcast to discuss how strong patent rights help inventors secure investment, compete, and drive American economic growth. She also addressed patent eligibility and the need for a more stable IP system as the United States competes with China. Listen here.
- On September 30, C4IP President and CEO Coke Morgan Stewart joined former U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright for a fireside chat about PTAB reform at US Inventor’s fourth annual conference, “Are You Stuck in the Invention Matrix?,” in Washington, D.C. The conference also featured insights from USPTO Director John Squires and numerous other IP experts and innovation leaders.
- On October 1, C4IP’s recent comments on China’s persistent shortcomings in intellectual property protection were mentioned in a South China Morning Post article about the WTO’s hearings on the topic.