Patent Reform

We are in the midst of an unprecedented debate around patent reform with a diversity of stakeholder interests that reflects the growing complexity of the patent system and its effects on business and commerce. The patent system seems to work well for discrete products like drugs where a single patent can provide essential protection for a product. It creates problems for complex, networked technologies, where a product or service may contain thousands of patentable functions and much of the value comes from elements such as design, integration, testing, debugging, and implementation.

CCIA supports the proposed Patent Reform Act as a thoughtful compromise among the many contending interests. We support the FTC recommendations, which address some issues not included in the pending legislation. But we are concerned that there are deeper structural problems that need to be addressed if the system is not to discriminate against IT. The problems are analyzed in our white paper, Patent Reform for a Digital Economy, which also offers long-term recommendations and a set of guiding principles.

CCIA Supreme Court Amicus Briefs:
CCIA other Amicus Briefs:
CCIA Comments and Filings in the U.S.:
CCIA Comments and Filings in Europe:
Other materials: