January marked the beginning of a new presidential administration and Congress, ushering in continued opportunities for meaningful policy advancements in the years ahead. C4IP extends its congratulations to our newly elected and appointed leaders and looks forward to collaborating with them to strengthen intellectual property rights and reinforce America’s position as a global leader in innovation.
January Highlights: Looking Ahead for 2025
This month, C4IP focused on key policy priorities for 2025, which include the following legislative reforms:
- The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA), which would revitalize innovation and investment in crucial high-tech sectors by reversing arbitrary, judicially created exceptions to patent eligibility. You can find additional resources on PERA here and below:
- C4IP Blog: Why C4IP Supports the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA)
- Myths vs. Facts: PERA – Diagnostics and Life Sciences
- Myths vs. Facts: PERA – Software and Technology
- C4IP Blog: Why C4IP Supports the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA)
- C4IP Letter to Senate Judiciary IP Subcommittee on PERA
- C4IP Letter to Sen. Thom Tillis in Support of PERA
- The Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act, which would level the legal playing field for small inventors and give them a fair chance to defend their patents from theft by larger competitors. You can find additional resources on the PREVAIL Act here and below:
- The Realizing Engineering, Science, and Technology Opportunities by Restoring Exclusive (RESTORE) Patent Rights Act, which would reestablish injunctive relief as the main legal remedy for patent infringement, thereby protecting innovators’ constitutional rights to the exclusive ownership of their inventions. You can find additional resources on the RESTORE Patent Rights Act below:
Additional Coalition Updates
- On March 3, C4IP Co-Chair Andrei Iancu will feature on an IPWatchdog panel about the inner workings of the Trump administration’s Commerce Department, the ongoing efforts to pass patent reform in Congress, and which issues patent advocates can expect policymakers to prioritize in 2025.
- On February 3, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen released a statement applauding Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) for introducing the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA) to protect American artists’ and creators’ copyrighted works from foreign thieves.
- C4IP’s statement was mentioned in a Forbes article on the legislation.
- On February 3, C4IP Board Member Judge Kathleen O’Malley (ret.) published an opinion essayin IAM correcting inaccuracies in the ongoing policy discussion regarding Bayh-Dole march-in rights authority.
- On January 27, C4IP Co-Chair David Kappos and C4IP Board Member Judge Paul Michel (ret.) participated 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 January 22, C4IP Co-Chairs Andrei Iancu and David Kappos published an opinion essay in the Well News highlighting the findings of the Sunwater Institute’s recent study on patent quality, which determined that the USPTO grants very few invalid patents and is significantly more likely to wrongly deny valid ones.
“The United States stacks up well against our peers when it comes to keeping out “bad patents.” But to succeed in the battle for 21st century technological supremacy, we’ll also need to ensure that we do not keep out good patents.”
- On January 21, C4IP announced that we are once again accepting applications for our selective summer internship, which is open to all students enrolled at ABA-accredited law schools. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and more information can be found on our website.
- On January 14, columnist Madeleine Key published an analysis of President Trump’s nomination of Howard Lutnick for Commerce Secretary, concluding that his leadership could usher in a new era of pro-IP policy at the USPTO.