Congress about to make patent theft easier
Congress wants to prevent foreign adversaries from harassing American companies and stealing their intellectual property, but its proposed solution would inadvertently leave America’s small inventors and entrepreneurs more vulnerable to IP theft than ever before.
The Protecting Our Courts from Foreign Manipulation Act would make it harder for small companies to access the capital they need to defend their patent rights.
Patent thieves are often larger and better-resourced than the inventors they steal from, forcing small inventors to seek outside capital to stand a fair chance in court. By imposing burdensome new disclosure mandates on those arrangements, the bill would deter investment in litigation and prevent many small innovators from accessing justice.
In short, the bill would make it far easier for predatory corporations, both foreign and domestic, to violate the rights of smaller American innovators. That risks doing serious damage to America’s innovation economy.
Read the full piece here.