By Beau Phillips, Executive Director, US*MADE
WASHINGTON – US*MADE, a coalition of manufacturers and American manufacturing trade associations focused on protecting job-creators from abusive patent litigation, praised President Biden and bipartisan leaders today for meeting with business leaders to discuss the American semiconductor industry today at the White House. US*MADE is urging Congress to send the President a bipartisan bill that invests in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and also move forward on legislation to address abusive litigation from patent trolls that is taking a damaging toll on the American semiconductor industry.
Beau Phillips, executive director of US*MADE, issued the following statement in response to today’s meeting:
“The events of the past few weeks have made clear just how much more work needs to be done so that we control our own supply chains. As our sanctions take hold in Russia, bringing their economy to its knees, it’s an important reminder that we cannot rely on goods produced in countries halfway around the world. We need to make things here in America and ensure that manufacturers have every opportunity to succeed.”
“That means that, in addition to investing in domestic manufacturing, policymakers need to finally crack down on non-practicing entities (NPEs), also known as patent trolls, that are forcing advanced manufacturers to waste their time and money defending themselves against frivolous lawsuits. Just last year, Intel was targeted by a foreign-owned patent troll seeking a windfall of billions of dollars. That’s billions of dollars that would be better spent investing in semiconductor manufacturing here at home. We also know that patent trolls are manipulating proceedings at the International Trade Commission (ITC) to threaten import bans on complex products that rely on hundreds or even thousands of underlying patents.”
“Enough is enough. If we are serious about creating jobs, protecting supply chains, curbing China, and making America the world’s leader in advanced manufacturing again, we need to do more to crack down on abusive trolls that too often target America’s chip manufacturers. In addition to sending the President a bipartisan bill that invests in our domestic manufacturing capacity, they should also send him the bipartisan Restoring the America Invents Act that Senators Leahy and Cornyn have introduced to give advanced manufacturers – and all companies sued by patent trolls – the tools they need to fight back.B