In a new article for The National Interest, C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director David Kappos and China intellectual property (IP) policy scholar Mark Cohen warn that China is strengthening its intellectual property system as the United States retreats from its historic role as an IP champion.
The authors explain that China increasingly views IP as a tool for building industrial strength and has made it a strategic priority in recent years. The country has repeatedly updated its patent law and office practices to keep pace with emerging technologies. President Xi Jinping makes regular remarks on the importance of IP policy. China’s commitment is even reflected in the Gaokao, an annual college entrance exam, where students have been asked questions related to IP rights.
Meanwhile, United States Supreme Court decisions have weakened patent protections and created uncertainty for innovators in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence and medical diagnostics. The United States has also become less consistent in promoting strong IP standards abroad.
To compete with China’s growing influence, the authors argue that the United States must strengthen IP rights at home, restore clarity to patent eligibility law, and provide meaningful remedies for patent infringement.
“America must rebuild its IP foundation,” Kappos and Cohen assert. “Otherwise, it risks not just losing the global innovation race but ceding to China the power to set the global rules of innovation.”
Read the full article here:
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/techland/how-china-is-winning-the-global-intellectual-property-race