Chairman Issa IP Hearing Explores Key Role of SEPs in U.S. Competition with PRC

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, held a hearing to discuss the role of standard essential patents (SEPs) in U.S. competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The hearing, part four covering strategic competition with China this Congress, investigated how American businesses and innovators are impacted by SEP policies and manipulative licensing practices in China. The hearing focused on the PRC’s misuse of courts and technical processes, including by “stacking the deck” at standard-setting organizations (SSOs) and other abusive tactics aimed to undermine U.S. technological leadership in global infrastructure.

“Today’s hearing was another chapter in the work we have done to examine and explain how the PRC manipulates global IP systems to gain an unfair advantage over the inventors and creators in America who follow the law and play by the rules,” said Rep. Issa. “For years, the PRC has weaponized the standard-setting process and licensing practices to favor its own technologies and sideline American inventors. This lawfare threatens our country’s businesses, markets, and economic leadership, and we must address it head-on to guarantee a level playing field and a fair fight.”

Witnesses for today’s hearing included:

• Walter Copan, PhD, Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer, Colorado School of Mines

• Kent Baker, Head of IP Strategy, Litigation & Licensing, u-blox America, Inc.

• Thomas Cotter, Taft Stettinius & Hollister Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School

• Mark Cohen, Edison Fellow, Antonin Scalia School of Law, George Mason University

Watch the hearing in its entirety here.