Retired Federal Circuit Chief Judge Paul Michel among the leading experts

WASHINGTON, January 21, 2011 – The Innovation Alliance, an organization representing innovators, patent owners and stakeholders from a diverse range of industries, brought together the USPTO Director David Kappos, retired Federal Circuit Chief Judge Paul R. Michel and intellectual property experts today for a public discussion on the important link between patents, jobs and economic growth. 

During the conference innovators and entrepreneurs described the role patents and a stable patent policy landscape play in promoting new technological developments, economic growth and job creation.   Brief excerpts from selected remarks follow.  Prepared remarks and the conference video can be found at www.innovationalliance.net.

Brian Pomper, executive director for the Innovation Alliance, expressed the urgency of the discussion by saying, “The U.S. patent system is the foundation for America's inventiveness and dynamic business culture.  Strong, reliable patent protections drive economic growth and job creation for American companies.  Jobs and innovationdepend upon a patent process that is accessible and reliable for all innovative enterprises of all sizes and business models.”

“InterDigital’s long heritage in developing cutting-edge technological innovations with industry-wide impact has been supported by a system that values and protects inventions.  We believe creativity and innovation have been and will continue to be the driving force for U.S. economic growth, as is a robust patent system.” - William J. Merritt, President & CEO, InterDigital, Inc.

“Startups have been responsible for all net job growth in the U.S. since 1977…Everywhere you go, startups are unable to get patents on their inventions approved in anything like a timely manner, thanks to a huge backlog of applications that has built up in the patent office over the last 10 years due to a lack of funding…as a result, hundreds of thousands of jobs—patent office director David Kappos once said it was in the millions of jobs—go un-created each year.” - Henry R. Nothhaft, President, CEO and Chairman, Tessera

“Qualcomm is first and foremost an innovation company. From our early days as a start up, Qualcomm has relied on the strength of the U.S. patent system. It has fueled our growth and enabled us to bring transformative wireless technologies to people around the world.  We believe any efforts by Congress to change the patent system should focus on areas of broad consensus and not on the controversial issues that have so clearly divided stakeholders over the last several years.  We encourage and support continued efforts to strengthen and better finance the USPTO.” - Don Rosenberg, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Qualcomm

The conference panels were moderated by Kim Hart of Politico and Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog.com.  Speakers included:

William J. Merritt, President and CEO of InterDigital

Henry R. Nothhaft, Chairman and CEO of Tessera

Roger Martin, Senior Vice President and Chief IP Strategist, Qualcomm

Don Rosenberg, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Qualcomm, Gregory J. Junemann, International President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) AFL-CIO & CLC

Robert Alt, Senior Legal Fellow and Deputy Director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation,

Lisa Kuuttila, President and CEO of STC.UNM at the University of New Mexico

Dr. John Swart, President of Exemplar Genetics

Harry J. Leonhardt, Esq., Vice President, Deputy General Counsel Corporate Governance & Secretary at Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc.

In 2011, the Innovation Alliance will continue to promote policies that foster a thriving innovation economy.  The Innovation Alliance supports legislative, regulatory and philosophical approaches that protect and promote America’s unique innovation ecosystem.

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