Mr. President, tomorrow, April 26, is World Intellectual Property Day, an opportunity for people around the world to appreciate and learn about the role of intellectual property rights in promoting…
Mr. President, tomorrow, April 26, is World Intellectual Property Day, an opportunity for people around the world to appreciate and learn about the role of intellectual property rights in promoting innovation. Our Founders believed that the right to enjoy the benefit of one's own inventions was so important to the progress of science that they included it in the Constitution. More than 200 years later, limited exclusive rights for inventors continue to incentivize the research and development and make the United States the global leader in innovation.
In the spirit of this year's theme, ``Innovation--Improving Lives,'' I am proud to partner with Senator Grassley to reintroduce the Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act. Patents for Humanity is a perfect example of how intellectual property rights encourage inventors to develop creative solutions to some of the world's most pressing humanitarian challenges.
Since 2012, the Patents for Humanity Program of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, PTO, has honored patent holders whose inventions apply cutting-edge technology to meet global challenges in medicine, nutrition, sanitation, energy, and living standards. The winning inventors receive a certificate to accelerate future PTO processes, such as a reexamination or additional patent applications. The Patents for Humanity Program provides an important incentive for talented innovators to use their expertise and intellect to enhance the public good.
The winners of the Patents for Humanity Program have addressed some of the toughest challenges in the developing world. One lab developed a vaccine cooler that has been used in the fight against the Ebola virus. A nonprofit organization created a strand of rice enriched with vitamin A to prevent a nutritional deficiency that is the leading killer of children globally. A social enterprise made a low-cost solar light that can replace dangerous kerosene lamps in areas without electricity. These life saving inventions are exactly the kind of innovations that our intellectual property system should incentivize.
In 2012, the Director of the PTO testified before the Judiciary Committee that Patents for Humanity would attract even more innovators if the winners could transfer their acceleration certificates to a third party. Frequently, successful small businesses and individual inventors are unable to continue their projects or are prevented from taking advantage of the accelerated process because of acquisitions and reorganizations. Transferability of the award certificates would increase the incentive for these small businesses and individuals to develop innovative technologies that would benefit the public and international development.
This bipartisan legislation would allow Patents for Humanity winners to transfer their acceleration certificates. This straightforward, common sense reform to the Patents for Humanity Program passed the Senate by unanimous consent last Congress. I am hopeful that it will again this Congress and that we can finally enact into law this simple improvement to a successful program. We should take every opportunity we can to encourage and support enterprising Americans with bright ideas that will benefit both our country and the world.
