America Invents Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. PETERS. While the America Invents Act makes a number of important changes to our patent system which are targeted at reducing the USPTO's backlogs and driving innovation, I believe that we must do more to help our Nation's small businesses compete in the global marketplace. Success in the global economy depends more and more on IP assets. America's IP-intensive industries employ nearly 18 million workers at all education and skill levels and represent 60 percent of U.S. exports.
While obtaining a U.S. patent is a critical first step for our innovators towards recouping their R&D costs, capitalizing on their inventions and creating jobs, a U.S. patent only provides protection against infringement here at home. If inventors do not register in a foreign market, such as China, they have no protection there if the Chinese economy begins production of their patented inventions. Not only is a foreign patent protection necessary to ensure the ability to enforce patent rights abroad; it is necessary to defend American inventors against foreign lawsuits.
High costs, along with language and technical barriers, prevent many American small businesses from filing for foreign patent protection. Lack of patent protection both at home and abroad increases uncertainty for innovators and the likelihood of piracy. While we must reduce backlogs at the USPTO to make domestic patent protection more attainable, we must also look forward to find ways to help our manufacturers and other IP-intensive industries compete globally.
This is why I am offering a commonsense, bipartisan amendment to the America Invents Act along with my colleague, Representative Renacci, whom I would also like to thank for working with me on this important issue.
This amendment mandates a USPTO-led study with SBA to determine the best method to help small businesses obtain, maintain and enforce foreign patents. This study is to be conducted using existing resources at no cost to the taxpayers, and does not alter the score of the bill. I believe our amendment will help Congress and the USPTO determine the best ways to help American small businesses protect their IP assets, compete globally and boost exports.
I would like to thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Conyers for working with us on this amendment; and I urge passage of the Peters-Renacci amendment.
I yield my remaining time to my colleague from Ohio, Representative Renacci.
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