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Americans should beware when Members of Congress talk about "reform" and "comprehensive" because those words usually cover a lot of mischief. The latest example is so-called Patent Reform. Since we've outsourced millions of well-paying American jobs overseas, the one asset we have to maintain our American standard of living is innovation superiority. The United States is the world's leader in technology innovation, which is due to our private enterprise economic system, our constitutional protections of private property, and most especially our unique system of granting patents to inventors. Communist China is the world's top producer of illegal copies of music, movies, software, designer apparel, and medicines. Chinese agents stole or illegally purchased high-tech machines, electronics, weapons, and communications systems. China is flexing its muscles in a new way that threatens our economy and our jobs. The buzz word is "indigenous innovation." China has promulgated new anti-American trade rules that prohibit imports of our products unless they are based on intellectual property that is developed and/or owned in China, and associated trademarks are originally registered in China. These rules mean that U.S. products cannot be sold in China unless the U.S. companies give China their current patents plus their research and development of new products. This new rule targets our most innovative industries, including computers, software, and telecommunications. Yongshun Cheng, former deputy director of the Intellectual Property Division of Beijing High People's Court, stated bluntly that the proposed U.S. patent bill is bad news for American innovation and good news for foreign infringers. He pointed out that the bill "is friendlier to the infringers than to the patentees in general as it will make the patent less reliable, easier to be challenged, and cheaper to be infringed." Free trade now means free to China. Nineteen U.S. trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers signed a joint letter to six Obama Administration agencies calling China's behavior "alarming." The letter warns that this rule poses "an immediate danger to U.S. companies" and to their "ability to create jobs here at home." The longtime consensus among government and business elites has been that as China became richer, its interests would become more like ours. It didn't work out that way because China is a Communist totalitarian country striving for military and economic superiority. Our American patent system is a precious American property right which the Founding Fathers put into the U.S. Constitution even before they added freedom of religion and speech. The inventor's exclusive right to his discovery for limited times was unique in 1787. It still is unique, and 220 years of experience have proved it is the world's best system because the overwhelming majority of great inventions are American. Congress should protect U.S. innovation, inventors and small businesses from Chinese theft and arrogant attempts to force us to give away our patents. |
