Washington Times Opinion: Making America’s patent system great again, by Jenny Beth Martin
This post originally appeared in the Washington Times on March 22, 2018.
When Americans hear the phrase “America first,” it’s a safe bet they don’t think of being in 12th place – in anything, but especially not in an area as vital to our American identity as innovation. And yet, 12th place in patent protection is precisely where the United States finds itself today, according to the Chamber of Commerce’s global intellectual property rankings.
Americans are well acquainted with our nation’s innovative history and our rise to become the world’s leader in inventions across a broad spectrum of industries. Less known, however, is the story of the United States’ recent decline in the important sphere of intellectual property rights protection. Over the past decade, and in the past few years in particular, the United States has fallen from first place in the world to an embarrassing 12th place for protecting patent rights.