Center for American Principles Policy Fellow, Patrick Kilbride recently published an op-ed in the International Business Times titled “Time To Fight For America’s IP Rights To Maintain Technological Edge”.
Kilbride writes, “First, the report should champion America’s historical opposition to compulsory licensing, by which foreign governments override valid patent protections and force U.S. companies to hand over valuable technology, almost always at below-market rates. Compulsory licensing was once considered a last resort for public health emergencies, but it is now increasingly used as a political tool for economic advantage. Instead of denouncing this practice, the USTR has recently offered only tepid opposition, stating that the United States should “respect” other countries’ rights to grant such licenses. Such permissive language encourages behavior that leads to negative outcomes all around”.