Tech Group Presses Obama On IP Picks
A trade group that represents Google, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and other high-tech firms in Washington urged President Barack Obama on Monday to appoint leaders at the Commerce Department and Patent and Trademark Office to who can bring reform and encourage innovation. "We have to recognize that the entire intellectual property system - patents, copyrights and trademarks - is in crisis and loosing credibility," Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black said. "IP policy has been administered with a sort of 'you're with us or against us approach' and you couldn't propose reforms without being pigeonholed as anti-IP," he said, noting that he believes too much IP protection can be as harmful as too little.
CCIA also asked the new administration to designate an undersecretary for intellectual property who can address the broad challenges in innovation policy facing the nation. "We need someone who is a visionary, as well as a manager and a diplomat," Black said. The PTO can be important to making innovation work, but it needs to be connected to broader thinking about innovation and concerned with results, not just churning out patents, he said in a press release. In addition, CCIA has advocated for an independent Institute for Innovation Economics and Patent Policy to provide evidence-based analysis -- a key element to making the system work for all. Obama's picks for Commerce secretary and PTO director have not been unveiled but buzz is building about Symantec CEO John Thompson for a Cabinet post.
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