Op-Eds

Over the weekend, Karen Kerrigan, president of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, published an opinion piece in the Duluth News Tribune emphasizing the contributions that small business owners and entrepreneurs make to innovation and promoting the passage of legislation that would empower them. Kerrigan recounts the inspiring stories of several historical entrepreneurs who patented breakthrough technologies, including Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs’ GUI for Apple computers. She connects these success stories to the strong patent rights that help inventions blossom into new industries, and explains how similar breakthroughs are harder for small companies to achieve today due to the erosion of patent rights. Fortunately, Kerrigan argues, passing the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act and PREVAIL Act would help fortify the patent system that underlies America’s innovation ecosystem — and empower small innovators and entrepreneurs to develop “the world’s next big idea.” “By defending patents, we protect breakthroughs and encourage innovation — and we defend the workshop, garage, and dorm-room innovators who make breakthroughs possible.”

Yesterday, Andrei Iancu — C4IP co-chair and former USPTO director and undersecretary of Commerce for intellectual property — published an opinion piece in The Hill explaining why the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act and PREVAIL Act are key to protecting U.S. national security. Iancu reveals how reforming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) through the PREVAIL Act would empower American startups against larger competitors. He also demonstrates how misguided Supreme Court jurisprudence has created confusion around the patentability of emerging technologies, stunting innovation and making the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act essential. Passing both bills, Iancu asserts, would empower U.S. inventors to compete with adversaries like China in the race for global innovation leadership. “To maintain national security, the United States needs to strengthen its technological capabilities — and to do that, we need to incentivize innovation, fast.”

Today, former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Howard Dean published an opinion piece in the Hartford Courant arguing that in order to maintain American leadership in innovation, the Biden administration must take a stand for IP rights by decisively rejecting the use of the Bayh-Dole Act’s “march-in” provision to control prices. Passed in 1980, the bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act unleashed American innovation by allowing universities to patent and license their discoveries developed with federal funding. But Dean argues that debate over the use of the law’s “march-in” authority as a price control mechanism — originally intended simply to let the government relicense patents that were not being effectively commercialized — poses an existential threat to inventorship that hangs heavy over scientists and entrepreneurs. Rather than prolong the uncertainty around “march-in” rights by empowering a government working group, Dean asserts that the Biden administration must put this matter to rest by rejecting the price control theory. “There’s no surer way to kill off investment in tech development than the constant threat of taking away exclusive patent rights…The Biden administration should stand up decisively for research and entrepreneurship. The debate around misusing march-in has gone on long enough.”

Former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins recently published an opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on how 11 years of ill-informed Supreme Court decisions have substantially weakened IP rights and set back American innovation — and how the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act would remedy this problem to revitalize numerous high-tech industries. Collins explains how rulings like Alice Corp. vs. CLS Bank International and Association for Molecular Pathology vs. Myriad Genetics limited patent eligibility for novel technologies like artificial intelligence and gene therapies, creating confusion that has disincentivized innovation in those areas. He argues that the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act would address this problem by explicitly identifying which technologies are patent-eligible, removing uncertainty and restoring support for American inventors. “By unwinding the negative impact of confusing judicial decisions, the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act would strengthen the U.S. intellectual property system, protect innovators, and shore up our ability to compete with geopolitical rivals.”

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.”

Today, former Texas Congressman Lamar Smith published an opinion piece in the Dallas Morning News on two bipartisan bills that could revitalize innovation and help entrepreneurs in the United States: the PREVAIL Act and the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act. The PREVAIL Act would reform the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), preventing Big Tech firms from abusing it to overwhelm their smaller rivals with litigation. The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act would clarify confusion caused by Supreme Court decisions about what kinds of inventions are patent-eligible, assuring investors that they can safely fund high-tech startups without fear that lack of patent protections will prevent them from seeing returns. In the piece, Smith argues that both bills could benefit America’s economy by strengthening the patent system and empowering entrepreneurship. “Congress should focus on efforts like these to ensure the patent system continues to serve its historic role incentivizing inventors and helping drive the U.S. economy.”

Over the weekend, former DNC Chair and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean published an opinion piece in the Boston Herald encouraging Congress to pass the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act. The legislation, introduced by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), aims to eliminate uncertainty caused by Supreme Court rulings around what types of inventions are patent-eligible. Dean asserts that by clarifying the products and processes eligible for patents, the bill would give investors greater confidence in supporting American research and innovation. He argues that this would help small businesses compete with larger corporations and allow American inventors to compete fairly against foreign rivals. “Americans’ health, economic prosperity, and even national security depend on regaining an edge over rival nations in critical fields. Supreme Court rulings have derailed our technological leadership. Senators Coons’ and Tillis’ legislation will help put us back on track.”