Patent law can be super complicated, even though it is also vitally important to many U.S. startups. And that is true regardless of whether a company ever patents its own technology, because startups can (and often do) encounter the patent system when they are wrongfully accused of infringement, when they need to license someone else’s technology, or if an invalid patent stands in their way. Those experiences can be the most salient in today’s policy debates.
Startups deserve a seat at the table every time patent policy is discussed. Even if the conversations in DC might not always feel directly relevant to our nation’s high-tech, high-growth startups, changes to patent law can have unintended consequences or big impacts on innovation and entrepreneurship. But when you wade into today’s policy debates, it also helps to know the context and background motivating the discussion and the relevant patent vocabulary and jargon. That might be easy for big companies who hire a lot of patent experts. But what about the rest of us?
As part of our second annual Patent Quality Week, Engine set out to demystify the patent system and help equip and empower the startup ecosystem (and broader public) to engage on today’s hot patent policy topics. You may already know something about patent eligibility, inter partes review, venue, or standards. But how did we get here? What are policymakers talking about and hearing about right now, and where might the law be headed?
During a webinar on June 7, we talked to the following experts about all those topics, and about how policymakers really do want to hear from startups.
Joe Matal, partner at Haynes & Boone, and former Acting Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and General Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee
Charles Duan, Senior Policy Fellow at American University Washington College of Law, Senior Fellow at R Street Institute
Graham Dufault, Senior Director for Public Policy at ACT | The App Association
Rachael Lamkin, Founder and Principal at Lamkin IP Defense
Josh Landau, Patent Counsel at the Computer & Communications Industry Association
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