The Big Story: Hope fades for pro-startup provisions in U.S. competitiveness package. After months of negotiations, Congress has hit another roadblock to advancing a compromise version of two bills aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness: the Senate’s United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) and the House’s America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act.

The Big Story: Copyright Office concludes ancillary copyright protections are not warranted. In a recent report, the U.S. Copyright Office explained why it does not recommend expanding or adopting new copyright-like protections for press publishers. The Copyright Office’s study was rooted in concerns about supporting vitally important local news media, but it focused specifically on whether policymakers should extend copyright-like protections (also known as “ancillary copyright”) to sharing hyperlinks and quoting news headlines or snippets of articles. Last week’s report concluded that it is not clear any new copyright-like protections would solve problems facing press publishers, while those sorts of copyright expansions would have “critical policy and Constitutional dimensions.”

The Big Story: Patent policy discussions resurface in D.C. this week. This was an active week for patent policy conversations in D.C., with the Senate, House, and Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) all weighing in. Procedures for reviewing low-quality patents took center stage, with many focused on the role the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) plays in the startup and small business ecosystems. It is imperative that policymakers who want to understand the full impact of the PTAB—particularly in regards to U.S. startups—ensure startup voices have an equal seat at the table when the topics are discussed.