5th Annual Global Intellectual Property Center Summit, Remarks

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by
THOMAS J. DONOHUE
President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
October 8, 2008

Introduction

Thank you, Rick, for that generous introduction. And thanks to you and the NBC Universal family for all the work you do to defend America's innovation economy.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm pleased to be here for the Chamber's 5th Annual Intellectual Property Summit.

I hope you all got your fill of presidential politics with last night's debate. I'm here today to discuss innovation and intellectual property, which actually has a lot to do with the future of this country.

The economy is by far the number one issue today. Voters are wondering: What will the next President and Congress do to get our economy growing and ensure our long-term global competitiveness?

Let me tell you the perfect place to start—by protecting the building blocks of economic growth and progress in our knowledge-based economy: Innovation and intellectual property.

IP Critical to American Economy

Protecting intellectual property and encouraging innovation are major component of the Chamber's competitiveness agenda—the 10 issues we are devoting all of resources to, from energy to health care to international trade.

Why have we included innovation and IP on this list? For two reasons.

First, because of the critical role they play in our economy.

Our talented people, investments in R&D, and willingness to take risks have made us the world's preeminent idea factory and most powerful economy—even if we are struggling today!

America's IP-intensive industries account for 18 million American jobs … jobs that often pay better and are expected to grow faster over the next decade than the national average.

Inventors and innovation-based companies are responsible for products and services that make life longer, more enjoyable, and more prosperous.

As our Summit theme suggests, it all starts with an idea, and an idea is just another way of saying "intellectual property."

We've all heard the phrase "There's nothing more powerful than a great idea."

History has proven that. We have seen time and again how simple ideas—well executed—have built careers, companies, and entire industries.

Every innovation starts with an idea … and that's why ideas must be respected, honored, and protected.

Strong intellectual property laws are essential to achieving that goal. They allow ideas—from a back-of-the-napkin concept to the most complex mechanical designs—to be nurtured and developed into full fledged inventions that benefit humanity.

The second reason IP and innovation are so important is that we cannot solve our country's problems—or the world's—without them.

Look at four key areas: health care, hunger, communications, and the environment.

Innovative pharmaceutical and biotech firms like Abbott, Merck, Pfizer, Schering-Plough, and Wyeth are pioneering medical breakthroughs that extend and save the lives of millions around the world.

Agriculture firms like Monsanto and Dow are developing new technologies, seeds, and equipment to help feed the world by making our farms more efficient, productive, and cleaner.

Computer scientists, software developers, and moviemakers are turning their ideas into new and improved tools that connect, inform, and entertain us in unprecedented ways.

Another particularly promising field where innovation and intellectual property are essential for progress is global climate change.

It seems like everybody has an idea or two about how to address this complex challenge.

A host of U.S. companies like General Electric, General Motors, Xerox, the Southern Company, and United Technologies are investing in a cleaner environment.

They are redesigning everyday products to limit their environmental impact from production, use, and disposal.

The presidential candidates also talk about a green revolution. We know Al Gore's been talking about it. Now even T. Boone Pickens is getting into the mix.

But let me break the news to them and others laboring in this cause.

No solution will be possible without technology. And the technology we need won't exist without strong intellectual property rights.

Any ambitious plan to address climate change simply falls apart without strong IP protections that encourage the development of these green technologies.

There is simply no greater incentive for the risk-taking needed in these ventures than the rewards that our centuries-old intellectual property system provides.

Intellectual Property Under Attack

Despite the obvious benefits of IP and innovation in growing the economy, solving difficult problems, and revolutionizing our daily lives, they are increasingly under attack.

We are all familiar with counterfeiting and piracy networks. They are producing dangerous and defective products that are making their way to our supermarket and pharmacy shelves.

We're working with international law enforcement organizations to combat this problem.

This past May, we announced that our partnership with INTERPOL yielded 185 arrests and $115 million of seized medicines, toys, and sub-standard electrical products in Latin America.

This operation brought together INTERPOL, police and customs officials, and businesses affected by counterfeiting and piracy operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Of course, it's hard to rest easy knowing that seizures like this are just the tip of the iceberg, but these initiatives mark important steps towards protecting workers and families from the devastating and lethal consequences of counterfeiting and piracy.

We are also supporting training programs for businesses, government officials, and legal professionals, while measuring the impact of counterfeiting and piracy in key countries.

For instance, today our Latin America team is unveiling the results of a study in Mexico, which tracks consumer attitudes towards IP theft and helps make the case about the threats these crimes pose to innovation economies in the region.

But it's not only the criminal counterfeiters and web polluters that are the problem.

Nowadays, academics, NGOs, and even governments are jumping into the fray to undermine IP rights all over the world by retooling the old Marxist contention that "property is theft."

This cadre of radicals are trying—sometimes successfully—to build public support against IP and innovation around the world.

Chamber Leadership

That's why we've greatly expanded our Global Intellectual Property Center's work beyond just counterfeiting and piracy.

With our allies, we are concentrated on a worldwide effort to protect innovation and intellectual property rights.

At the global level, we are engaging trading partners around the world—from developed markets like the EU and Japan to advanced developing markets such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and even smaller markets such as Thailand and Colombia.

We're enlisting foreign allies to stand on the side of their innovation industries by protecting IP rights in international organizations.

For example, earlier this year at the World Health Organization, our broad coalition of associations and companies were able to turn back an anti-IP effort and send the message that such assaults against innovation norms will no longer go unchallenged.

Activist NGOs had been urging the World Health Organization to oppose IP protections for pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and biotechnology.

We are also proactively engaging international organizations like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and World Trade Organization, among others.

When individual governments in Thailand and Brazil adopted anti-innovation policies like compulsory licensing to override the patents of American pharmaceutical companies, we made a rational, fact-based case against them.

We engaged local stakeholders and rallied support among like-minded allies to stop the spread of such policies.

We've made clear to these governments the dangerous consequences to their own innovation economies and ability to attract foreign investment and new jobs.

We also helped them focus on some of the deeper health challenges obstructing their path to health and prosperity—namely antiquated health ministries and crumbled health delivery infrastructures that make even the smallest short-term gains through compulsory licensing short-lived.

In a similar vein, over the last year, governments, NGOs, and UN agencies have begun to call for a full abandonment of the patent system to allow developing countries to acquire environmental technologies. The activists claim intellectual property laws are barriers to access.

The underlying narrative they are trying to create is that property—and certainly intellectual property—is the enemy. They claim that knowledge and the fruits of our labor should be freely available to the public.

If this worldview were to become reality, it would drain the incentives out of our economy and send American ideas racing to less hostile environments.

What started with medicines has now shifted over to a new battleground—environmental technologies. Where these radical activists go next no one knows, which is why we must remain vigilant for new international challenges and aggressively fight them.

Domestically, the Chamber is also committing tremendous resources to build the world's largest coalition of innovative companies and organizations. We are now at over 500 members and counting.

Our members are working to improve business-to-business cooperation to safeguard intellectual property.

We've committed greater resources and assembled cross-industry alliances. We've formed coalitions of business, consumer groups, and organized labor to work with Members of Congress, state lawmakers, and Attorneys General to help them protect their constituents.

This year, new laws took effect in Florida and Virginia to strengthen their IP laws and boost penalties for IP theft.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill that would enhance federal IP laws and improve coordination of the federal government's IP enforcement efforts.

S. 3325, the PRO-IP Act, passed the Senate unanimously and the House with almost 400 votes.

It speaks volumes that the two parties agree so strongly on this issue. And it says something when you can get business, organized labor, and consumer groups on the same team, and working together on an issue like this.

This was a win for both parties. It was a win for America's innovators. It was a win for workers whose jobs rely on intellectual property. And it was a win for consumers who depend on safe and effective products.

It was also a great step forward in securing broader U.S. government support for IP here and around the globe.

Now we need the President to take the final step by signing the bill into law and leaving a lasting legacy to support America's innovation economy.

I have a message for President Bush. Mr. President, you will be doing a great service for the nation's innovators, workers, and consumers by signing this legislation into law. I urge you to do so.

Make no mistake though, our work doesn't end with this law, this Administration, or with this Congress.

We are leading a sustained, long-term campaign to build lasting support for intellectual property among current and future Members of Congress and the next Administration.

With that said, I also have a message to the 44th President and the 111th Congress.

Your Administration needs to work with Congress to stand with America's innovators and innovation-driven companies.

A President Obama or McCain must work with Congress to provide effective leadership in support of American innovation and make intellectual property protection and enforcement a top priority.

The President must work with Congress to confirm officials for key leadership positions in the White House, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Patent and Trademark Office, and the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State.

These highly qualified individuals should understand how critical innovation and intellectual property are to jobs, economic growth, America's global competitiveness, and the safety and well-being of consumers around the world.

And trade policies must include strong intellectual property measures that will safeguard innovation.

Conclusion

While we can go on all day about who won and who lost last night's presidential debate, losing this debate for strong intellectual property rights will have many visible consequences and produce clear losers— namely, American innovators, the workers in IP-intensive companies, and the consumers who rely on their products.

At the same time, the business community must also do its part by recognizing that protecting innovation and creativity in today's global marketplace will not be accomplished by government action alone.

All businesses involved in the creation, distribution, and marketing of these products must work together to develop cooperative strategies that prevent counterfeit and pirated materials from being easily introduced into the supply chain.

Earlier today, I posed the question of what the next president must do to encourage economic growth and enhance our competitiveness in the long run.

I believe we have helped answer that question.

Where innovation is fostered, flows of capital, investment, and talented people soon follow.

I believe America's people are the best and brightest in the world, but our global competitors are gearing up to compete with us in the 21st century.

With your continued support, the Chamber will fight to ensure our intellectual property laws and enforcement efforts—at home and abroad—are up to the challenge of keeping America on the cutting edge of innovation and maintain our position as the most competitive nation on the planet.

These are challenging economic times, but I am bullish about America's long-term economic prospects. Why?

Because our people are still the smartest, most driven, and most creative workers - always in search of the next great idea.

And our American experience over the last two centuries has proven that what starts with an idea, becomes something much, much greater and valuable to society.

Thank you.