the United States of America has long been the world leader in invention and innovation. That leadership has propelled our economic growth, but we cannot remain complacent while expecting to stay on top. A Newsweek study last year found that only 41 percent of Americans believe that the United States is staying ahead of China on innovation. A Thompson Reuters analysis has already predicted that China will outpace the United States in patent filings this year. China, in fact, has a specific plan not just to overtake the United States this year in patent applications, but to more than quadruple its patent filings over the next 5 years. That is astonishing, until considering that China has been modernizing its patent laws and promoting innovation while the United States has failed to keep pace. It has now been nearly 60 years since Congress last acted to reform American patent law. We can no longer wait. Today, I am reintroducing bipartisan patent reform legislation that is the culmination of three Congresses worth of bipartisan, bicameral work, including eight hearings in the Senate alone.
Editor's note · Context
Senator Leahy discusses the need for patent reform in the U.S. to maintain innovation leadership against China.
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