Who Supports Change
Small, medium, and large businesses and trade associations in the financial services, technology, energy, chemical, manufacturing and media industries have come together for change as The Coalition for Patent Fairness, an organization dedicated to creating jobs, spurring innovation and protecting consumers by strengthening our nation's patent system.
A broad and growing group of institutions and experts on innovation and competitiveness, including the Center for American Progress, the National Academy of Sciences, the Federal Trade Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations and legal scholars from the nation's top universities, are calling for patent reform. The editorial boards of the nation's most prominent publications, - including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times, have called for Congressional action to modernize a patent system that hasn’t seen sufficient reform in over 50 years.
President Obama has also included patent reform as part of his technology and economic revitalization agenda. The plan specifically recognizes the important role of the patent system in promoting innovation, and the plan states that a key goal is reducing "uncertainty and wasteful litigation that is currently a significant drag on innovation."
As significant patent holders themselves - including many of the top 10 U.S. - based patent recipients, the members of the Coalition for Patent Fairness strongly support and depend on the protection of intellectual property to operate their businesses and to sustain thousands of domestic jobs. We support a strong, robust and balanced patent system, but believe the abuses that have become a part of the current system harm our economy and consumers by stifling innovation and job creation.
The members of the Coalition for Patent Fairness strongly support the bipartisan, bicameral patent reform legislation, the Patent Reform Act of 2009, introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) during the 111th Congress. The Coalition will work closely with Members of Congress to continue the effort to implement common sense reforms that will end abuse and modernize the patent system in a manner that will foster economic growth, job creation and innovation.