Enabling Innovation Policies

The WTO Secretariat published this new information note warning of possible increases to trade costs due to COVID-19 disruptions. The note examines the pandemic’s impact on key components of trade costs, particularly those relating to travel and transport, trade policy, uncertainty, and identifies areas where higher costs may persist even after the pandemic is contained.

This Bloomberg article discusses the introduction of the General Motors Co. Hongguang MINI EV in China, a surprise hit that sells for less than $5,000.

This report updates the USPTO’s 2019 report on U.S. women inventor-patentees, “Progress and Potential,” using three years of new data, covering 2017 through 2019. It provides new information on women’s participation in the U.S. patent system, finding, among other things, that women make up an increasing share of all new entrants to the patent system, rising from about 5% of new inventor-patentees in 1980 to 17.3% by 2019. Innovation Council supports efforts to collect data on participation by minorities in IP systems. Data collection is the first step towards policymaking to support better access for minorities, including but not only women, to IP tools they can use to grow their businesses.

Trade Secrets Watch is a blog on all things trade secrets. It’s run by trade secret attorneys at the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. The blog offers the latest trade secret news and analysis from the United States and across the globe. It covers recent cases and proposed legislation, verdicts and settlements, practice tips, upcoming events, and other interesting trade secret tidbits.

The International Institute for Intellectual Property Management’s Master’s Program in Intellectual Property Law and Management Industry Case Study Series is aimed at documenting European best practice in IP management in different industries and companies of various sizes. The MIPLM IP management case studies from the Industry Series provide practical insights into these topics, covering specific cases in real companies. The co-authors are top managers of these companies and vouch for the authenticity of the reported cases with their names.

The Global Innovation Forum is a nonprofit startup that connects entrepreneur, small business, corporate, development, and university communities with policymakers to explore the opportunities and challenges of engaging in the global marketplace.

This 2014 paper by Doug Lippoldt and Mark Schultz presents information about trade secrets protection, management, and role in innovation. The authors recommend actions that policymakers can take to improve trade secrets regimes. The paper was published as part of the E15 initiative of ICTSD. Although old, the analysis is still relevant to those interested in understanding trade secrets.

This September 2020 LeadershIP webinar features senior officials from the United States DOJ, PTO, and NIST discussing intellectual property protection and enforcement, and the relevance of competition rules to IP licensing, in the wireless technology sector.  Among other topics, the speakers discuss the challenge of patent hold-out, whereby standard essential patent (SEP) owners face unwilling licensees engaged in ongoing infringement of their IPRs, and confirm their shared view that injunctive relief should be available without restrictions for SEPs.

The EU and United States publish reports about IP protection and enforcement challenges faced by their innovators in different markets. These reports are considered by some to be controversial, for the types of IP issues they raise and for giving rise to some political discomfort.  The reports play a key role in signalling challenges that IP owners – whether trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secrets owners – report around the world, so they can be evaluated and addressed in policy discussions and negotiations.