As December draws to a close, we wish you and yours a very happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year! We look forward to a productive 2025, and we thank you for your continued support.
December Highlights: Advancing the RESTORE Patent Rights Act
The bipartisan RESTORE Patent Rights Act, introduced in July by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives led by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) in the Senate, and Representatives Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), and Hank Johnson (D-GA) in the House, is poised to solve one of the largest IP-related issues facing innovators today: lack of access to injunctive relief. Injunctions, which are court orders that prohibit patent infringers from continuing to utilize stolen technology, are historically how inventors have been able to enforce their exclusive patent rights. Yet in recent years following the 2006 Supreme Court decision in eBay v. MercExchange, the issuance of injunctions has been widely replaced by monetary damages — allowing many wealthy companies to infringe patents with impunity. RESTORE would reestablish injunctions as the default legal remedy for patent infringement to solve this problem and empower small innovators.
On December 18, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on “The RESTORE Patent Rights Act: Restoring America’s Status as the Global IP Leader.” C4IP voiced its strong support for this important bill in advance of the hearing:
- C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee explaining how the restoration of injunctive relief through the RESTORE Patent Rights Act would benefit small inventors and America’s broader innovation ecosystem.
- You can find additional resources on the RESTORE Patent Rights Act below:
Additional Coalition Updates
- On January 27, C4IP Co-Chair David Kappos and C4IP Board Member Judge Paul Michel (ret.) will participate in an IPWatchdog discussion focused on the PREVAIL Act and what PTAB proceedings might look like under the leadership of the second Trump administration.
- On December 17, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen sent a letter to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet in advance of their December 18, 2024, hearing entitled “IP and Strategic Competition with China: Part IV — Patents, Standards, and Lawfare.” The letter emphasized the importance of properly valuing standard-essential patents (SEPs) — and rejecting regulations that stifle SEP innovation.
- On December 15, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media Steve Forbes published an opinion essay in Forbes arguing that for the United States to remain a global leader in innovation, the incoming Trump administration needs to appoint a visionary leader who understands the importance of nurturing startups and disruptive technologies.
- On December 12, C4IP Co-Chair Andrei Iancu discussed the future of innovation in the United States under the new administration during a Hudson Institute event entitled “What’s Ahead for Innovators and Creators in the New Trump Administration?”
- On December 9, C4IP Co-Chair David Kappos and C4IP Board Member Judge Paul Michel (ret.) spoke on the most important IP and innovation policy issues related to biopharmaceuticals during an EIRA Launch Webinar entitled “Engines of Innovation: The Critical Functions of Intellectual Property in the Biopharmaceutical Ecosystem.”
- On December 9, C4IP Co-Chair Andrei Iancu appeared on an episode of 2 Mikes Live, a politics and current events podcast, where he discussed the importance of IP rights to U.S. innovation and the threat posed by Chinese patent theft.
- On December 5, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen was interviewed about the dangers of counterfeits by Eyewitness News 3 in Hartford, Connecticut, as part of a news story about a local family that was harmed by a counterfeit product.
- On December 4, C4IP Board Member Judge Paul Michel (ret.) published an opinion essay in the DC Journal responding to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s approval of the PREVAIL Act and urging Congress to pass this bill to protect small innovators.
“Passing the PREVAIL Act would help inventors and small businesses defend their rights — and show that, even after a divisive election, Democrats and Republicans can come together to make the system work better for ordinary Americans.”
- On December 3, CSIS hosted a hybrid event on the role of intellectual property in innovation and geopolitical competition. The event featured a discussion with Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), moderated by C4IP Co-Chair Andrei Iancu.
- On December 3, C4IP issued a statement applauding the USPTO’s decision to withdraw a proposed rule that would have imposed a burdensome new requirement for filing terminal disclaimers.
- C4IP’s statement was mentioned in articles in IPWatchdog and Law360 covering the decision and the IP community’s reaction.