July Highlights: Protecting American IP in the Internet Era
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet recently held a hearing, “A Midlife Crisis? IP and the Internet After 40,” examining the intellectual property challenges that have emerged over four decades of the digital age. Put simply, the internet has transformed how creators and inventors share their work with the world — but it has also given bad actors powerful new tools to steal that work. From pirated and counterfeit goods sold through e-commerce platforms to the rise of AI-generated “digital replicas” that mimic a person’s voice and likeness without consent, the same technologies that connect Americans have also created new avenues to undermine the IP rights that underpin continued innovation.
These threats harm creators and entrepreneurs’ livelihoods by making it more difficult to earn money from their work. But they also harm consumers, who risk being lured into scams and may even be exposed to dangerous counterfeit goods. Even the U.S. economy depends on reliable IP protection throughout the internet: IP-intensive industries account for 44% of U.S. private sector GDP and support tens of millions of American jobs. This is why Congress is now weighing durable solutions — including legislation such as the NO FAKES Act and SHOP SAFE Act — to ensure IP enforcement remains effective in the digital age.
Throughout July, C4IP advocated for a strong, enforceable IP system to protect American creators and inventors from growing Internet-era threats:
- C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen sent a letter to the House IP Subcommittee ahead of its hearing on internet-based IP violations, urging lawmakers to advance pro-IP reforms such as the NO FAKES Act, the SHOP SAFE Act and legislation authorizing site blocking of foreign piracy websites to strengthen intellectual property protections in the digital age.
- C4IP submitted a statement for the record for the hearing.
- C4IP’s statement was featured in Legis1’s coverage of the hearing, which detailed the wide support from IP advocates for greater digital enforcement of copyrights and other IP protections.
Additional Coalition Updates
- On July 28, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen issued a statement applauding the National Academy of Inventors and the USPTO for launching a new five-year initiative to foster IP education and cross-sector collaboration, which C4IP joined as a founding coalition partner.
- On July 22, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen participated in a panel discussion on U.S. and EU competitiveness at the Transatlantic Policy Network’s 2026 Transatlantic Week in Washington, D.C., to discuss shared transatlantic challenges and the role of strong IP rights in sustaining innovation.
- On July 15, C4IP Chief Policy Officer and Counsel Jamie Simpson published an article in IAM detailing ongoing and urgent patent reform efforts in the 119th Congress, including the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, PREVAIL Act, and RESTORE Patent Rights Act.
- On July 14, C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing, “From Genes to Machines: The Patent Eligibility Debate,” where he advocated for the passage of the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act to promote innovation in 21st-century technologies.
- Iancu’s testimony was featured in MLex’s and VitalLaw’s coverage of the hearing.
- On July 13, C4IP submitted a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of its hearing on patent eligibility, urging lawmakers to pass the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) to fix the judicially created exceptions to Section 101 that have injected uncertainty into the U.S. patent system.
- On July 13, C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director David Kappos, along with China IP policy scholar Mark Cohen, published an opinion essay in The National Interest warning that China is strengthening its IP system as a tool of state power while the United States retreats from its historic role as an IP champion.
“If the United States is to answer China’s rising IP leadership, it must demonstrate that when the right legal protections and incentives are in place, innovation is strongest in democracies and market economies.”
- On July 13, C4IP released a new infographic highlighting key takeaways from University of Southern California Gould School of Law Professor Jonathan Barnett’s June report, “Idea Factories,” which examined how intellectual property sustains and cultivates the technology ecosystems that drive American innovation.
- On July 9, C4IP issued a statement congratulating C4IP Advisory Board Member Laura Peter on her confirmation as Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Patents and Technology Sector.
- C4IP’s statement was quoted in IPWatchdog’s coverage of the appointment.
- On July 9, C4IP released a new issue brief urging Congress to pass the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act in order to restore clarity to Section 101 after Supreme Court decisions weakened incentives for innovation, investment, and U.S. competitiveness.
- C4IP also updated its “Key Issues” page on PERA to spotlight more resources detailing the issue and the bill’s merits.
- In early July, C4IP released five videos from its recent event with the Alliance of U.S. Startups & Inventors for Jobs (USIJ), “Securing the Future of U.S. Innovation: The Importance of IP Rights,” including a highlight reel and four short segments discussing the various reasons strong IP protections are crucial to America’s future.
- “Innovation Needs IP“ discusses why strong IP rights are necessary for U.S. economic growth.
- “IP and American Competitiveness“ underscores that a strong domestic IP system will be key to outcompeting China.
- “Importance of Innovation Incentives“ explains how IP rights enable inventors and investors to take risks in developing new technologies.
- “Protecting Innovation Here and Abroad“ outlines how U.S. trade policy must work to ensure respect for IP rights globally.