Photo: Urupong/Adobe Stock
This report explores the critical role that IP rights play in promoting innovation, examines the current state of U.S. IP policy, and recommends policies for the new administration to revitalize the U.S. IP system, boost innovation, and ensure U.S. economic and national security. The U.S. Constitution enshrines IP rights into the foundation of the United States, granting Congress the power to “promote the progress of science and useful arts” by securing exclusive rights for creators and inventors for defined periods of time. These exclusive rights laid the foundation for an economy driven by creativity and ingenuity, fostering a unique culture of innovation that the United States retains to this day. Secure, stable, and predictable IP rights encourage risk-taking and investment in innovation, protect small businesses, promote downstream innovation, and ultimately ensure that the United States retains its competitive edge in critical technologies. Conversely, weak and unpredictable protections stifle investment, hinder small innovators, and allow adversaries to gain unfair advantages through IP theft and coercion.
Despite the critical importance of secure, stable, and predictable IP rights for innovation and U.S. economic and national security, over the past several years U.S. IP policy has devolved into a state of incoherence, characterized by weakened protections, inconsistent enforcement, and legal uncertainty. These shifts threaten to erode the innovation ecosystem that has long been a pillar of U.S. economic strength and global leadership. At a time when the nation is striving to reinvigorate its technological base amid fierce global competition, particularly with China, an unstable IP environment risks undermining this effort.
This report is made possible through general support to CSIS. No direct sponsorship contributed to this report.
