Policy - Intellectual Property

Intellectual property refers to an invention from the human intellect that is protected for the creator’s use under the law as a patent, copyright, trademark, or trade secret. In the Information Age, intellectual property is the foundation that ensures future innovations make the leap from the drawing board to the marketplace, where they can be used to improve our lives and tackle the challenges confronting our society.

Our companies drive innovation globally, and their cutting-edge products and services have revolutionized the way we live and work. None of our members’ innovative ideas would have become marketable products that launched job-creating businesses were it not for an intellectual property framework that enabled creativity to become invention.

ITI advocates on behalf of our member companies and the larger technology ecosystem for policies that support robust, modern intellectual property laws to promote the spirit of innovation that drives our economy and transforms our world.

Innovation through patent reform: It’s important for intellectual property rights to keep pace with recent advances and promote the creativity, investment, and address the risk involved in developing new technologies. However, out of control lawsuits by litigious non-practicing entities (NPEs) are exploiting shortcomings in patent laws against innovators and creators, siphoning billions of dollars from legitimate patent holders each year.

Abusive patent litigation does more than cast an unwelcome shadow on our intellectual property system—it deters investment in jobs and new technologies and harms innovation. ITI believes that Congress should act to ensure the continued success and viability of the patent system and prevent the waste and abuse caused by out-of-control litigation to help make America more competitive.

Ensuring the spirit of innovation: In today’s dynamic marketplace, a technology company’s success is highly dependent upon its innovations and competitive advantage, both of which are closely tied to the development and protection of trade secrets. When valuable intellectual property, particularly trade secrets, is stolen through cyber espionage or other means, it poses a serious economic security problem for technology companies and hurts the U.S. innovation economy. For that reason ITI supports a strong, uniform standard to protect trade secrets that will encourage creativity and ensure that today’s ideas will become tomorrow’s revolutionary technology.