TechWonk Blog
TechWonk Blog
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It’s easy to forget just how much technology has changed our world and our lives. A little more than a decade ago, a small business owner relied on foot traffic from local customers rather than web visits from international shoppers to grow. Drivers mapped out unfamiliar routes and took wrong turns instead of using precise, voice-activated directions to travel. Cancer patients faced an uncertain diagnosis [...]
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The conventional wisdom in Washington always holds to not expect much from divided government, and those expectations only lower heading into a presidential election year because hyper-partisanship can turn the landscape into frozen tundra. But for every rule there is an exception. Despite the fierce headwinds, issues that are important to the technology industry cut across party lines to find common [...]
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Previously I wrote that 2015 was predicted to be a year of gridlock, and yet despite deep partisanship in the nation’s capital, the tech sector saw several of our priorities passed into law. If lawmakers and the President build on that momentum, there are a number of priorities Congress could address this year to propel the growth and ingenuity of the tech sector and our economy, including: Judicial [...]
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ITI released a letter commenting on the draft Innovation Promotion Act today. This bipartisan effort, led by Congressmen Charles Boustany, R-La., and Richard Neal, D-Mass., is a productive first step towards leveling the playing field for the United States in an increasingly competitive global environment. In recent years, ITI members have raised the alarm that our trading partners around the world [...]
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The legislative express train that has been patent reform reached top speed in the House of Representatives this afternoon, and its next scheduled stop will be the United States Senate. By a vote of 325-91, the House passed H.R. 3309, the Innovation Act, a bipartisan bill advanced by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to curb abusive litigation by patent trolls. Make no mistake, today’s [...]
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This week has seen positive developments on patent reform in both the House and Senate, suggesting the potential for even more progress in 2014. On Wednesday, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) secured a strong bipartisan House Judiciary Committee vote of 33-5 to pass the Innovation Act. This important legislative effort to curb abusive litigation by patent trolls picks up momentum as [...]
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The White House today released a report that is intended to set the stage for greater coordination across the federal government to protect the intellectual property of American business. As part of the release, I participated in a panel discussion that examined the global challenges that companies face in this arena. Here’s what I had to say, excerpted from the full discussion. * * * * * Dean [...]
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Sparky Anderson, who managed World Series-winning teams in Cincinnati and Detroit, once remarked, “We’re getting close to opening day. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.” January 3rd, 2013 marked American policymaking’s opening day: the start of the 113th Congress. We in the tech industry see the start of a new season of policymaking as a good thing because ours is an industry rooted [...]