Innovation Alliance Statement on House Judiciary IP Subcommittee Hearing on Standard Essential Patents and China
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper today issued the following statement on the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet hearing on the role of standard essential patents (SEPs) in U.S. competition with China:
“Strong and reliable patent rights—including for standard essential patents (SEPs) —are crucial to U.S. leadership in critical and emerging technologies. As the United States and China battle for technological superiority, the United States must ensure our law and policies incentivize new investments in foundational research and development (R&D) and promote participation in global standards setting.
“We hope the House Judiciary IP Subcommittee will examine ways to protect U.S. inventors from foreign governments, including China, that have abused their legal processes to gain an unfair advantage in the innovation race, especially in standardized technologies. We urge Congress to reject proposals that would risk de-valuing SEPs through rate-setting or other over-regulation of patent licensing, which would harm innovation and reduce competition to the benefit of China’s domestic industries. Instead, Congress should work to bolster U.S. participation in global standards setting to strengthen IP protections for U.S. innovators.”