Walter Copan, Ph.D. — vice president for research and technology transfer at the Colorado School of Mines, senior advisor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and former director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) — recently published an opinion piece in the Boulder Daily Camera explaining the importance of the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act and PREVAIL Act to U.S. national security.
Copan explains that China is largely succeeding in its goal of achieving global technology dominance, with a recent report showing that it has overtaken the U.S. in a large majority of critical fields. He argues that increasingly unreliable IP rights, which discourage investors from supporting new technologies, are responsible for this relative decline in American innovation.
To restore U.S. innovation leadership, Copan urges Congress to pass the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act and the PREVAIL Act, which would make patent rights more dependable — and in doing so, bolster investors’ confidence in breakthrough inventions.
“Simply put, we have the expertise, resources and innovators necessary to restore the United States to global leadership — and improve our national security and economic prosperity. But without a strong patent system to back it all up, we will continue ceding ground to our economic rivals.”
Read the full op-ed here: