“This week, we journey inside the Beltway into the world of politics, legislation and rulemaking, discussing innovation and patent politics with Chris Israel. Chris is currently a senior partner with ACG Advocacy, which is one of the premiere bipartisan government affairs and strategic consulting firms in Washington, DC.”
“Chris joined ACG in 2010 after serving in the George W. Bush Administration as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Commerce and then later becoming the first U.S. International Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, a role that put him in the White House as one of President Bush’s top advisors on intellectual property matters.”
“Since joining ACG, Chris has worked with some of the largest and most innovative companies in the world, and he has developed a particular expertise and focus leading a coalition of top venture capitalists and innovative startups. He has also been named one of the 50 most influential people on IP.”
“During our conversation we explore much of what is happening in DC relating to patents and innovation, and specifically discuss matters ranging from proposed guidelines from the National Institute of Standards and Technology relating to use of march-in rights to control drug prices, to the recently introduced RESTORE Act, which in little more than one-page would largely, if not completely, overrule the Supreme Court’s eBay decision and create a presumption that victorious patent owners who have proved infringement and withstood all invalidity challenges would be presumed to be entitled to injunctive relief.”
“This is a pretty straightforward bill,” explained Israel. “This is probably about as straightforward as you’ll see from a piece of patent legislation. It just instructs the courts to toggle back to this place where you generally presume that [patent owners] have a rebuttable presumption [of an injunction].”
“We also spend time discussing whether and to what extent patent and innovation policy is or has become political in the traditional sense. Often you will hear people discuss how this is not political in the Republican vs. Democrat way, with members of Congress on both sides reaching across the aisle to agree, both in favor of more protections for creators and innovators, and others who reach across the aisle sharing positions more favorable to implementers. But are times changing and is the patent and innovation space becoming more political in the traditional R vs. D sense? There may be some reasons to believe that at least certain issues are becoming political, with progressive and populist policies and champions tending to favor regulation and legislation that is often portrayed as likely to lower costs of products and services, particularly those that relate to drugs, which has become a hotly debated topic within the patent and innovation community.”
“I think that patents in particular have become conflated with debates about inflation and the cost of products,” Israel explained. “From an economic philosophy standpoint, I feel like you do see more progressive economists and others looking at the patent system and saying it’s something that exists to create a good but we also have to come deal with the problem or the situation where that exclusivity allows or creates high prices and I think you do think you see some tension… I think we need to do a better job of explaining that there’s a lot of societal good that happens because the United States creates all these breakthrough technologies and they’re able to be developed, invented and commercialized here…”
“Chris and I also spend time talking about the reality that everyone on Capitol Hill is in favor of innovation—and much more innovation—and everyone seems to agree that the U.S. is suffering from a so-called China problem as it relates to the theft of intellectual property rights and innovation generally. And while everyone wants more innovation, talks about how important innovation is, and how it is essential to do something about the growing threat of theft from China, there is little agreement about next steps, or even basic solutions that would move past the talking points and into the realm of action.”
“To hear this entire conversation, listen wherever you get your podcasts (links here).”