Innovation Alliance Commends Senate Judiciary IP Subcommittee for Holding Hearing on RESTORE Patent Rights Act
Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill Would Restore the Right to Injunctions to Stop IP Theft and Promote U.S. Technological Leadership
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper today issued the following statement on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property holding a hearing on the bipartisan, bicameral RESTORE Patent Rights Act:
“The Innovation Alliance commends the Senate Judiciary Committee for holding a hearing on the bipartisan, bicameral RESTORE Patent Rights Act. This bill, introduced last summer in the Senate by Senators Coons (D-DE) and Cotton (R-AR), and in the House by Representatives Moran (R-TX), Dean (D-PA), Roy (R-TX), Johnson (D-GA) and Ross (D-NC), will help stop IP theft and promote investments in innovation that support U.S. technological leadership.
“For more than two centuries, an inventor whose rights had been infringed could obtain a permanent injunction to enforce that right, stopping an infringer from making, using, selling, or importing their invention. But in 2006, the Supreme Court undermined this right in eBay v. MercExchange by altering the legal test for obtaining an injunction and holding that money damages for past infringement should be sufficient. Since that decision, the rapid decline in injunctive relief has allowed Big Tech and other large companies to steal the inventions of smaller competitors with impunity.
“This has serious consequences for the U.S. innovation economy and U.S. global technology leadership. When inventors cannot stop others from stealing their IP, investors are reluctant to fund the risky and long-term R&D needed to ensure U.S. leadership in foundational and emerging technologies.
“Under RESTORE, injunctive relief will be available when a patent is proved valid and infringed. We urge Congress to consider and pass this vital bill.”