Strong Intellectual Property Rights Should Be The Priority

More than 100 large company CEO’s recently identified their top 5 “overall priorities.”   (See December 9, 2014 Wall Street Journal, R2.)   Those priorities are:

1. 21^st-Century Workforce
2. Pro-Growth Fundamentals
3. Modernize Infrastructure
4. Taper Capital Gains Tax
5. Empower Healthcare Consumers

Somewhat surprisingly, strong intellectual property rights (IPR’s) are not expressly mentioned as a top 5 priority.  But, the explanations accompanying priority nos. 1-4 implicate IPR’s.  Those explanations emphasize:  (a) improving the “focus on STEM and technical training,” (b) granting visas to all technical graduates, (c) spurring “private investment in a range of infrastructure” and (d) helping “U.S. companies grow, hire and compete in the global marketplace.”

Focusing on STEM and technical training and allowing technical graduates to remain in the United States should enhance R&D and engineering efforts in which those trainees and graduates are involved.  In turn, those enhanced efforts can result in strong IPR’s and, in particular, strong patent and trade secret rights.  Strong IPR’s can spur investment in the IPR owner’s enterprise and the IPR’s and corresponding investment can help the IPR owner grow and compete in the global marketplace.

Strong IPR’s should be a top priority for any company that depends upon innovation to compete.  Indeed, to effectively protect R&D and engineering investments and attain and maintain competitive advantages, strong IPR’s should be the priority.