PATENT REFORM: U.S. INVENTOR ACT GOES TO CONGRESS
By Paul Morinville & Randy Landreneau
Published by IPWatchdog
This week US Inventor, an inventor organization working in Washington DC and around the US to advocate for strong patent protection for inventors and startups, rolled out the U.S. Inventor Act in the House of Representatives. US Inventors have been visiting congressional offices since 2013. Back then, the false patent troll narrative fueled by millions of dollars from the largest multinational corporations on the planet filled the air with smoke. The smoke was intended to cloud what these huge companies really wanted – to destroy the patent system for small inventors and startups so they can perpetuate their monopolistic companies.
But the battle of ideas during the rush to pass the Innovation Act opened the debate up. The good news is that many in Congress took the time to understand and the Innovation Act was stopped on the floor. Congressman Issa (R-CA) and Congressman Goodlatte (R-VA) have attempted to revive it this year, but their cries now fall on educated ears.
Other facts have come to light since last year. Early stage funding for U.S. startups has dropped 62%. We are at a 40 year low in new business formation. What used to be approximately 85% of all venture capital invested in U.S. startups is now about half invested in China’s startups. Not surprisingly, in communist China, the startup market is booming, growing by 23%. As a result, China has taken the lead in swaths of new technologies, including technologies critical to our national security like artificial intelligence (AI). AI runs not only our power grids, but our tanks and ships. We will soon be mired in the swamp of a national security disaster as China moves even further ahead and we are forced to purchase these products from them.
