Jim Renacci: “I thank the gentleman for yielding and also for his hard work on the amendment on behalf of American small businesses. I…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding and also for his hard work on the amendment on behalf of American small businesses. I rise today in strong support of the Peters-Renacci amendment--a commonsense, no-cost study to determine the best method for American small businesses to obtain and enforce patent protections in foreign countries. Industries that rely on intellectual property employ nearly 18 million American workers and represent 60 percent of American exports. As these industries continue to grow globally, foreign patent protection will become increasingly important to protect these workers' jobs, promote exports and expand our economy. Our economy is becoming more global by the day, with foreign innovators testing the outer reaches of imagination and enjoying the strong support of their home nations. China, for example, is becoming increasingly aggressive at protecting their innovators' intellectual property rights and is subsidizing applications for foreign patents. We must develop a way here at home to make American small businesses equally competitive in the foreign marketplace. In order to compete with China, we have to stand behind our innovators with equal force. Our amendment simply directs the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to conduct a joint study with the Small Business Administration to issue recommendations on how America can do just that.…”