R Street Institute

Real Solutions

New paper: economic liberty requires patent reform

by Zach Graves
June 11, 2015
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issues: Patent, Technology and Innovation
R Street Associate Fellow Derek Khanna has an excellent new paper on the economic case for patent reform. Writing for the free-market technology group Lincoln Labs, he argues not just for litigation reform, but for reforms that address fundamental problems with patent quality and clarity:

James Madison warned us 200 years ago to guard patents and copyrights with “strictness against abuse.” Patent trolling, created and exacerbated by modern patent policy, is one manifestation of that abuse and is increasingly stifling competition, reducing innovation, and limiting potential economic growth….If Americans want robust innovation and competition, then they must confront this cronyism in our midst and demand free markets and free competition without the government choosing winners and losers by granting patents for non-inventions.

Here at R Street, we’ve supported similar reforms, and made the argument that patent reform is a free-market idea. With the House Judiciary Committee marking up its patent reform bill today (H.R. 9, the Innovation Act), this is well-timed to influence the broader debate in Congress. Read his full paper here.

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