Among the foremost threats to individual freedom in America is the abusive and oftentimes lawless behavior…
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More Legal Shenanigans from the Biden Administration’s Department of Education

Among the foremost threats to individual freedom in America is the abusive and oftentimes lawless behavior of federal administrative agencies, whose vast armies of overpaid bureaucrats remain unaccountable for their excesses.

Among the most familiar examples of that bureaucratic abuse is the Department of Education (DOE).  Recall, for instance, the United States Supreme Court’s humiliating rebuke last year of the Biden DOE’s effort to shift hundreds of billions of dollars of student debt from the people who actually owed them onto the backs of American taxpayers.

Even now, despite that rebuke, the Biden DOE launched an alternative scheme last month in an end-around effort to achieve that same result.

Well, the Biden DOE is now attempting to shift tens of millions of dollars of…[more]

March 19, 2024 • 08:35 AM

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Intellectual Property: America Still Leads the World, but Dangers Lurk Print
By Timothy H. Lee
Thursday, February 15 2018
After traditionally remaining atop the world ranking in patent protection, we slipped to tenth last year, and now to twelfth in the latest Index.

The United States maintains its worldwide lead in the critical area of intellectual property (IP) protection, but our status is dangerously eroding. 

That's the primary takeaway of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's just-released sixth annual International IP Index.  In an increasingly knowledge-based and globally competitive economy, it's more important than ever that we not surrender our IP preeminence. 

Fortunately, legislation currently before Congress can help avoid that fate. 

By way of background, the U.S. has throughout its history remained unique among nations in protecting IP, which explains how we quickly became the most inventive and prosperous nation in human history. 

In the very first Article of our Constitution, the Founding Fathers specifically singled out IP for protection, establishing that "Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."  Our Founders believed that intellectual property - patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets - constitutes a natural human right, in the same way that freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, the right to due process and the right to keep and  bear arms were natural rights. 

In addition to constituting an inherent natural right, however, our Founders knew that IP protections served the utilitarian purpose of incentivizing innovation and discovery. 

James Madison described that dual nature of IP when he wrote, "The public good fully coincides in both cases with the claims of individuals," and onetime patent attorney Abraham Lincoln observed that American IP protection, "adds the fuel of interest to the fire of genius in the discovery and production of new and useful things."  The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed IP as a natural right when it held that, "sacrificial days devoted to such creative activities deserve rewards commensurate with the services rendered," as well as IP's utilitarian value by observing that, "encouragement of individual effort by personal gain is the best way to advance public welfare through the talents of authors and inventors." 

The real-world payoff of America's IP tradition speaks for itself. 

From the telegraph to television, from the light bulb to powered flight, from our film industry to our music industry, from the Coca-Cola brand to the Apple logo, no nation in history even approaches our legacy of innovation. 

Today, IP-related sectors account for approximately $6 trillion of the American economy, over one-third of our total gross domestic product (GDP).  For perspective, that $6 trillion surpasses any other nation's GDP except China's.  Our IP industries also constitute approximately 75% of U.S. exports, nearly $1 trillion in value. 

American IP-related businesses account for over 40 million employees, and the growth rate of those businesses exceeds that of non-IP enterprises.   Employees fortunate enough to work in IP industries also average $51,000 in salary, which stands approximately 30% higher than the $39,000 average for workers in non-IP industries. 

All of that stands testament to America's worldwide leadership in IP protection, as confirmed once again by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's latest International IP Index. 

Each year, the Index analyzes IP laws across the globe, and ranks nations according to their comparative strengths and weaknesses.  The Index also objectively correlates IP protections with each nation's economic well-being, including job creation, foreign investment, business environment and other measures.  This year, the Index increased the number of nations it measured to 50 from 45, and increased the number of IP indicators measured to 40 from last year's 35. 

As it relates to the United States, there's good news and bad news to report, according to the Index: 

While the U.S. remains at the top of the 2018 Index rankings, innovators and creators face a challenging environment for protecting their IP under current U.S. law.  The U.S. strengthened border enforcement efforts through the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act.  However, U.S. patentability standards and patent opposition procedures continue to create uncertainty for rightsholders. 

After traditionally remaining atop the world ranking in patent protection, we slipped to tenth last year, and now to twelfth in the latest Index. 

Legislation before Congress, however, can interrupt that erosion in our patent protection system. 

The Support Technology and Research for Our Nation's Growth and Economic Resilience (STRONGER) Patents Act of 2017 would bolster patent protections by permitting patent owners to seek injunctive relief against infringing parties during and after litigation of their claims, improve and clarify the process by which patents are granted and enforced, correct recent post-patent review process defects within the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and update the fee process within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). 

Americans should recognize and take pride in our legacy of IP protection.  But in a progressively competitive and knowledge-centric world economy, we must also ensure continuation of that legacy through such initiatives as the STRONGER Patents Act.  Further erosion presents too dangerous an alternative.

Notable Quote   
 
"Americans do not trust several major U.S. institutions, including the national news media.The recently released Center Square Voters' Voice poll found that 43% of Americans say the media is trustworthy, compared with 54% who said it is not trustworthy.Younger people were more likely to trust the media, with 47% of those ages 18-34 saying they trust it and 46% saying the opposite.The numbers steadily…[more]
 
 
— Casey Harper, The Center Square
 
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Do you believe the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately reject the new Biden administration automobile emissions rule as beyond the scope of administrative agency authority?