Obama and Google

Witty Ideas and Inventions Threatened

H.R.9, the Innovation Act, is inventor killing legislation moving rapidly through the House of Representatives to protect large companies like Google

By Denise Edwards

While we were sleeping, an entire way of life has been infiltrated through insidious means and involves a curious relationship between the White House and Google. The results are astounding when it comes to inventors and innovators employing deceptive methods to squelch what is said to be a glut of “patent litigation.”

Lately, one cannot seem to able to throw a dart without hitting a target of deception that has been hidden in a piece of legislation. In this case that dart has struck H.R.9, The Innovation Act:

H.R.9, the Innovation Act, is inventor killing legislation moving rapidly through the House of Representatives.  It passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and is scheduled for a full floor vote in the next two weeks.  H.R.9 will effectively wipe out patent rights for small entities – independent inventors and small companies.

This legislation is being driven through the House with huge money from a consolidated lobby of banks, consumer internet companies, and retailers led by Google.  These companies benefit from weak patent rights.  The Google lobby has dumped hundreds of millions of dollars on Washington over the last eight years to buy the legislation and they are within weeks of winning.  This is cronyism on a grand scale and must be stopped.

US Inventor, Independent Inventors of America and The United Inventors Association have been in Washington constantly for over a year going door-to-door in the House and Senate to educate every Congressional office about the damage H.R.9 will bring on inventors, small innovation companies, and the economy overall. Our combined efforts have created momentum and shifted the conversation away from the fictional “patent troll” narrative supported by the anti-inventor Google lobby to the plight of inventors and small companies.  But even though the conversation has shifted, H.R.9 is still rapidly moving toward possible passage.

President Obama has employed 20 former Google executives in his administration. As a result, as seen in a recent article published on July 9, 2015, the Independent Inventors of America Organization to inform us about what they consider to be a wearisome relationship, one that is fatal to such entrepreneurs:

There was a hearing this week with the new head of the Patent Office, Michelle Lee. I’ve known that Ms. Lee is a former executive of Google, but I didn’t realize that she was head of patents and patent strategy at Google! Google is the largest backer of this fatal legislation! It is important that we really confront what we are up against here. In addition to Ms. Lee, I’ve been told that there are over 20 former Google executives in the present administration. Add to this influence the hundreds of millions of dollars spent lobbying for this legislation. (The Innovation Act – H.R.9)

We are a country built on innovation and capitalism. The reason millions have flocked to our shores was because opportunity awaited them in America. Only here could you show up with pennies in your pocket and through prayer, ingenuity, and hard work, one could create millions for themselves and employ others.

That is being threatened right now. Make sure that this bill is defeated and do not allow another freedom to be taken from us here in America.

For those that are offended by this statement, you are sorely lacking in understanding, but I do decree America has been a gift to the world. America has provided the hope of freedom to many, and has reached every corner of this planet that the chance at a life you could only dream of can be realized here where one can worship freely as well.

Most of the dreams that were realized came through witty invention and ideas.  Here is a portion of the bill that they want to slide past you.

An independent inventor without financial resources with a patent being infringed may have, as his only recourse to the theft of his property, the selling of his patent to a Non Practicing Entity (NPE) that can defend it.

Because NPEs have the wherewithal to go against large infringers, a tremendous effort has been made to paint them as villains. What is wrong with an inventor selling his intellectual property to an investor that can realize its rightful value?

The term “patent troll” was specifically created for use in making a defender of a patent look bad, and has been part of a huge public relations campaign to pave the way for legislation that will make it much harder for legitimate patent holders to stop the theft of their intellectual property.

If you are an inventor of any kind whether in medicine, technology, writing, etc. Don’t blow this off. Even if you cannot design a paper clip this bill will affect you because it is a freedom that has made America great the chance to create and prosper from it.  (The Act can be read in its entirety here.)

Here is the summary from US Inventors Association that are fighting this bill.

There is a reason that hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent promoting a false narrative and lobbying for legislation like “The Innovation Act,” this bill is the ultimate wish list of the world’s largest corporations trying to protect themselves from liability when they unfairly appropriate the intellectual property of independent inventors and other small entities.

The short sightedness of this effort is almost beyond belief. Many of these companies, at their founding, depended on the very protections provided by American Patent System that they are now seeking to eliminate.

To eliminate the key ingredients of the unique American innovation ecosystem is to flirt with unintended consequences of staggering proportions.

This bill is arguably the worst legislation in American history.

Read the whole bill in its entirety and contact your Representative to tell them to defeat the bill today. Visit their site here at Independent Inventors of America.

We must kill this bill.


Denise Edwards is the National Communications Director for the SUA Project; Women Defending America