C4IP accomplished a lot during the month of October! Here’s a roundup of what our Coalition has been up to over the past month.
- On October 25, C4IP sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Raimondo and HHS Secretary Becerra to express concern regarding the interagency working group reviewing the march-in provision of the Bayh-Dole Act.
- “We urge the interagency working group to follow the letter of the law and reject any specious interpretations that would turn Bayh-Dole into a price control mechanism.”
- On October 24, Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work and Senior Director for Society and Intellectual Property at the Special Competitive Studies Project Rama Elluru co-published an opinion essay in The Hill underscoring that the United States cannot compete with China without strong patent rights.
- “Our national security today is tied just as much to the productivity and dynamism of our private sector economy and its ability to incentivize private investment into new, cutting-edge technologies. And strong patent rights have historically driven that private-sector investment. We should take every step possible to preserve and strengthen them.”
- On October 19, C4IP sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Raimondo in advance of the October 20 summit on economic cooperation between U.S. and EU leaders, urging Raimondo to raise discussion of the EU’s recent standard-essential patent proposal.
- “It’s critical that EU and U.S. officials discuss [the proposal’s] tradeoffs at the upcoming summit. Failure to carefully consider them could harm quality of life, economic growth,technological leadership, and innovation in both the United States and Europe.”
- On October 18, C4IP held a reception in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the one-year anniversary of its launch. The event featured remarks from several members of Congress and IP thought leaders, including: Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA), C4IP Co-Chairs Andrei Iancu and David Kappos, and C4IP Board Member Judge Paul Michel (ret.). You can find full recordings and transcripts of remarks as well as photos here.
- On October 18, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen issued a statement in response to the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) newly released report investigating the potential expansion of the TRIPS waiver.
- “Now that the USITC has completed its report, the Office of the United States Trade Representative should recommit itself to preserving intellectual property rights both domestically and abroad.”
- On October 6, former Vermont Gov. and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Howard Dean published an opinion essay in the Hartford Courant arguing that in order to promote American innovation leadership, the Biden administration must decisively reject the use of the Bayh-Dole Act’s “march-in” provision as a price control mechanism.
- “There’s no surer way to kill off investment in tech development than the constant threat of taking away exclusive patent rights.”
- On October 5, Unified Patents general counsel Jonathan Stroud and biotechnology and pharmaceuticals attorney Kevin Noonan co-published an opinion essay in Law360 explaining how the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act could spark innovation in high-tech areas and allow small businesses to compete on equal terms with large corporations.
- “PERA’s passage, whether in this or in some amended, carefully considered form, will support inventors, protect intellectual property rights, and ultimately help to create and effectively commercialize groundbreaking technologies and life-saving medications.”
- On October 3, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen issued a statement in support of the recently-reintroduced Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes in E-Commerce (SHOP SAFE) Act.
- “The legislation will take meaningful steps to reduce the availability of counterfeit goods that siphon billions of dollars and countless jobs from our economy and stunt innovation. C4IP urges Congress to pass the SHOP SAFE Act expeditiously.”
- On October 3, C4IP sent a letter to Chairman Chris Coons (D-DE) and Ranking Member Thom Tillis (R-NC) applauding their recent introduction of the Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes in E-Commerce (SHOP SAFE) Act ahead of a relevant Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property hearing.
- “We applaud your recent introduction of the SHOP SAFE Act of 2023, S. 2934, and for quickly scheduling today’s hearing to consider the bill and the serious problem of counterfeits being sold through online platforms.”
- ICYMI: C4IP submitted written comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in advance of the agency’s recent virtual workshop, “Transforming Discoveries into Products: Maximizing NIH’s Levers to Catalyze Technology Transfer.”
- Experts in the broader intellectual property community also shared their perspectives with the NIH. Some highlights from these submissions can be found here.
- ICYMI: C4IP announced the creation of a grant program for intellectual property research, scholarship, and writings. The program — which provides grants of up to $25,000 — will advance C4IP’s mission to provide lawmakers data-driven recommendations to inform IP policy. More information about the application process is available here, and questions about the program should be directed to C4IP Chief Policy Officer and Counsel Jamie Simpson at jamie@c4ip.org.
- The program has been covered by IPWatchdog, Legal Scholarship Blog, and SSRN.