A diverse group of g companies — including Apple, DuPont, Ford, GE, IBM, Microsoft and Pfizer — have launched the Partnership for American Innovation (PAI) to safeguard America’s position as a global innovation leader. Former U.S. Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) Director David Kappos, now a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, is a senior advisor to the group.

"As director of the USPTO, I saw firsthand the significant role the patent system plays in encouraging inventors, promoting investment in innovation, and creating jobs," Kappos says. "Now is not the time to gamble with America’s innovation engine — once patent protections are eliminated, they cannot be restored."

He adds that the members of the PAI are committed to the following principles:
° The American economy is best served by a strong patent system that protects high-quality innovation in all fields of technology.

° It is critical to our global economy that IP is respected by all participants in the system.

° The USPTO must be properly funded to efficiently and effectively process patent applications and issue only high-quality patents.

"It is in our country's best interest to have a patent system that rises above short-term interests, and creates long-term gains for all sectors of the economy. We must move beyond rhetoric that 'the system is broken and trolls are bringing businesses to a complete halt' to a discussion of calibrated improvements for what is actually the best patent system our planet has," Kappos says.

For more information about the Partnership for American Innovation go to www.PartnershipforAmericanInnovation.org.