Innovation Alliance Statement on House Judiciary Committee Passage of Innovation Act
Washington D.C. – Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper released the following statement on the House Judiciary Committee’s passage of the Innovation Act (H.R. 9):
“Today’s markup in the House Judiciary Committee reinforced that the Innovation Act needs significant work before it should be allowed to move forward in the legislative process. Despite concerns raised by a broad coalition of universities, inventors, manufacturing technology and life science companies, venture capitalists, startup communities, and others, as well as bipartisan concerns raised by members of Congress, the bill still includes numerous overly-broad and harmful provisions that need to be addressed. In its current form, the Innovation Act would dramatically weaken intellectual property rights, crippling the ability of legitimate patent owners to protect their ideas and undermining innovation and job creation in our country. It would increase the time and cost of all patent litigation, making life harder for inventors and investors and easier for patent infringers, including foreign competitors in China and other countries with weak patent protections. We urge Congress to either fix the troubling provisions in this bill or pursue alternative targeted legislation, such as the TROL Act in the House or the STRONG Patents Act in the Senate, that would address abuses while strengthening our critical patent system.”
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ABOUT THE INNOVATION ALLIANCE
The Innovation Alliance represents innovators, patent owners and stakeholders from a diverse range of industries that believe in the critical importance of maintaining a strong patent system that supports innovative enterprises of all sizes. Innovation Alliance members can be found in large and small communities across the country, helping to fuel the innovation pipeline and drive the 21st century economy. Learn more at www.innovation.wideeyeclient.com.
Contact: Kat Maramba, (202) 412-9144, Kathrina@BlueEngineMedia.com