Our Principles
Our Principles:
Why Patents Matter
The U.S. patent system underpins America’s innovation economy — incentivizing inventors and small companies to take risks on unproven technologies that can change the world.
Patents provide assurance that when inventors take those risks and develop successful products or technologies, they can protect their ideas and benefit from their success. That protection gives startups a foothold in the marketplace and helps prevent larger companies and foreign competitors from simply appropriating their innovations and driving them out of the market.
Why Patent Legislation is Necessary
In recent years, legal loopholes and court decisions have left patent owners facing repetitive litigation and parallel challenges in federal court and before the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Large incumbent corporations have exploited these weaknesses to challenge smaller competitors and make it more difficult for disruptive companies to compete.
USIJ urges federal policymakers to restore confidence in the U.S. patent system by advancing reforms that recognize the unique needs of startups, entrepreneurs, and inventors and ensure their patents are strong, reliable, and enforceable.
We support legislation like the PREVAIL Act, which would restore balance to America’s patent system by making much-needed reforms to the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). We likewise support the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, which would clarify patentability in critical industries, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and 5G, and the RESTORE Patent Rights Act, which would incentivize investment, innovation, and startup activity by making patents more reliable and enforceable.
Four Principles for a Stronger Patent System
Principle #1: Strong Patent Protections Are Critical to Investment in Breakthrough Technologies
Starting a new company is inherently risky. It requires visionary entrepreneurs willing to leave secure jobs and pursue ideas that may fail, as well as investors willing to commit significant capital today in pursuit of returns that may be years away. Without meaningful incentives, entrepreneurs and investors have little reason to assume the risks involved in challenging entrenched market players.
Enforceable patents provide those incentives by protecting startups from the predatory behavior of would-be competitors who are eager to copy successful new products or technologies without bearing the cost or risk of developing them.
Principle #2: Patents Are Constitutionally Protected Property Rights
The Founders recognized that innovation depends both on incentives to take risks and on meaningful protections for those who do. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution directs Congress “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”
The word “securing” is significant. Congress was given the responsibility not only to establish a strong IP system, but also to protect the rights of creators. Congress must uphold that responsibility by ensuring the property rights of American innovators remain meaningful and enforceable.
Principle #3: The U.S. Patent System Needs Reform to Prioritize Inventors and Entrepreneurs
Federal policymakers must ensure the U.S. patent system supports the inventors and entrepreneurs developing genuine technological breakthroughs. R&D-intensive startups often require years of research and significant financial commitment before they can bring a product to market. For these companies, strong and enforceable patents are critical to making those long-term bets possible.
A medical device company, for example, may require multiple rounds of funding of up to $250 million, along with years of R&D and regulatory approvals, before entering the market. Without a strong patent portfolio protecting its innovations, the company may never get off the ground.
Overall growth in venture capital investment can obscure an important trend: a declining share of funding is flowing to R&D-intensive sectors such as semiconductors, fiber optics, drug discovery, networking equipment, medical devices, biotechnology, and computer hardware. These are foundational technologies with significant implications for U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.
A stronger, more predictable patent system is essential to preserving the incentives that drive cutting-edge innovation and investment in these critical sectors.
Principle #4: The U.S. Needs a Strong Patent System to Remain a Global Leader
Policymakers have correctly pointed to aggressive efforts from China and other major economies to acquire leading technologies developed by the United States as a part of their strategy to propel their own economic growth. Fighting this outright theft of American IP is critical, but it is only half the battle. We also must have a strong domestic IP system that ensures high-quality patents are granted and provides consistent and predictable enforcement for them as they are commercialized.
Without reliable patent protections in critical fields such as life sciences, AI, robotics, and advanced communications, the United States risks losing its leadership in the technologies that will shape the future. The U.S. patent system needs to reclaim its role as the global gold standard.