IP Rights No Innovation Barrier in Pandemic, Patent Chief Says

If patents can be a “blockade or barrier” to innovation, Andrei Iancu has yet to see the evidence, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director said during a Tuesday conversation with the Hudson Institute.

“These are important times right now” with the international pandemic, Iancu said. “We have to be very careful when it comes to innovation and the protection of innovation.”

Iancu’s remarks came in a sitdown with George Mason University Law professor Adam Mossoff that touched on patent eligibility, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s important to show that intellectual property rights will ...