Former Trump, Biden officials: America’s security depends on startups. Weak patent policy is undermining them
Source: Fortune ·
U.S. leaders have stood by for years as the IP infrastructure that undergirds private-sector innovation has crumbled. In some ways, they've accelerated it.
From the source
AI pilots that can fly military aircraft when GPS and communications are jammed. Quantum sensors that can guide ships and aircraft without satellite signals. 3D-printed rocket engines that could make hypersonic weapons faster and less expensive to produce. These next-generation defense technologies are being pioneered not by government laboratories or traditional defense contractors, but by privately financed startups. Yet even as America increasingly bets its security on private-sector innovation, its leaders have made it harder than ever for entrepreneurial companies to bring new technologies to market. For years, Washington has neglected America’s eroding intellectual property system, ignored foreign challenges to U.S.-backed IP standards, and failed to correct flawed judicial precedents that inadvertently weakened IP rights — the fundamental catalysts of high-tech investment. IP rights ensure that inventions can’t be stolen or copied without permission, creating incentives for…