October Highlights: C4IP Advocates for the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act
On October 8, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held a hearing entitled “The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act: Restoring Clarity, Certainty, and Predictability to the U.S. Patent System.” The session marked a significant step forward in the effort to address a major weakness in the American patent system: the lack of clarity surrounding the types of inventions eligible for patent protection.
During the 2010s, a series of Supreme Court decisions — Bilski v. Kappos (2010), Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories (2012), Assoc. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics (2013), and Alice Corp v. CLS Bank (2014) — dramatically reduced the scope of patent eligibility by expanding the scope of vague judicial exceptions not found in the language of the statute. Lower courts have interpreted these rulings to deny patent protection to inventions such as medical diagnostics and artificial intelligence, making it significantly more difficult for innovators to secure investment in these areas. This has weakened America’s patent system relative to China’s and Europe’s, undermined U.S. competitiveness in strategically important fields, and stifled scientific progress.
The bipartisan Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) seeks to reverse that uncertainty by reestablishing clear standards for patent eligibility based in statute and historic practice. It would ensure that high-tech inventions have the chance to be evaluated on their merits for patenting, bolstering investment in key sectors, and sparking the development of new technologies, companies, and jobs.
C4IP strongly supports PERA and has consistently advocated for its passage as a cornerstone of necessary patent reform. During the October hearing, C4IP Co-Chairs and former USPTO Directors Andrei Iancu and David Kappos testified in support of PERA’s broad benefits, explaining that restoring clarity around eligibility would revitalize innovation across emerging industries, strengthen U.S. competitiveness on the global stage, and empower small inventors and startups to bring bold discoveries to the American public.
- C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen sent a letter to the Subcommittee in advance of the hearing, expressing C4IP’s strong endorsement of PERA and underscoring the bill’s importance to America’s economic vitality.
- C4IP Co-Chairs Andrei Iancu and David Kappos testified at the hearing, arguing for the need to restore predictability and investment incentives in patent eligibility.
- Kappos and Iancu’s testimonies were quoted extensively in IPWatchdog’s coverage of the hearing, which also linked to C4IP’s letter.
- C4IP published a blog post highlighting key takeaways from the hearing and excerpts from the testimonies of Iancu, Kappos, and others.
Additional Coalition Updates
- On November 5-7, C4IP Chief Policy Officer and Counsel Jamie Simpson will speak at the 12th Annual IP Dealmakers Forum in Austin, Texas, on trends and developments in the PTAB. You can learn more and register here.
- On October 28, C4IP Chief Policy Officer and Counsel Jamie Simpson spoke on a Federalist Society panel titled “SAP, Motorola, and the Future of PTAB Reform,” where she joined other legal experts to discuss recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board developments.
- On October 27, C4IP announced the launch of its new and improved website, which features powerful new tools to search for and filter resources, news, and analysis based on key issues.
- On October 21, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen sent a letter to the IP Subcommittees in both chambers of Congress, urging lawmakers to designate October as National Intellectual Property Month to drive public awareness of intellectual property and its importance to U.S. prosperity.
- On October 21, C4IP’s prior work debunking false claims made by I-MAK was cited in an IPWatchdog analysis that exposed “grossly misleading information” in a recent I-MAK report on GLP-1 medicines.
- On October 21, C4IP’s recent statement expressing concern over the Commerce Department’s plan to “initiat[e] the march-in process” on Harvard-owned patents was quoted in a post by the American Academy of Physics, which summarized pro-innovation critiques of the Department’s more recent plan to take a portion of universities’ patent income.
- On October 20, C4IP issued a statement urging caution regarding the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge (I-MAK)’s new report on patents and drug pricing, warning about I-MAK’s historic reliance on misleading and incorrect data that amplifies baseless myths about patents.
- On October 11, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen published an opinion essay in IAM, urging Congress not to be misled by I-MAK’s questionable data on drug patents and to reject two bills, the Drug Competition Enhancement Act and the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, that would weaken patent rights based on I-MAK’s data.
“The United States cannot afford to undermine our own patent system. Fortunately, so long as policymakers insist on facts, the American innovation engine will continue to deliver.”
- On October 8, Congressman Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-01) joined the Center for Innovation and Free Enterprise’s “IP Protection Matters” podcast, where he spoke about ongoing legislative efforts to promote IP rights, including the PREVAIL Act and the RESTORE Patent Rights Act.
- On October 7, C4IP Chief Policy Officer and Counsel Jamie Simpson was featured in an MLex article discussing the October 8 PERA hearing and the broader debate over Section 101 patent eligibility reform. Simpson noted that the uncertainty caused by recent Supreme Court decisions has forced innovators to “turn away from research projects” in affected fields and that PERA would provide a more predictable framework for determining what is eligible for patent protection.
- On October 3, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen submitted a public comment to the U.K. Intellectual Property Office in light of its ongoing consultation on standard-essential patents (SEPs), urging the U.K. to reject proposed policy changes that would undermine voluntary and fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) SEP licensing.
- C4IP’s statement was reflected in World IP Review’s coverage of the consultation.