US innovation is not suffering due to an outmoded and obstructive patent system but thriving because of patent protection, according to Cravath, Swaine & Moore partner David Kappos, who was formerly a director of the US Patent and Trademark Office.  'When we look beyond the fairytales and examine the facts concerning the value of the American patent system, the real story is that patents have a demonstrably positive impact on American jobs, the economy and the innovation ecosystem. Opposition to the system is nothing new; the notion of granting exclusivity over ideas strikes some as inherently undemocratic,' he says in an article in Fortune magazine.

Collaboration

He points out that recent research has revealed that firms which 'harness information from multiple sources enhance innovation and provide additional value for customers. Though some storytellers portray patents as necessarily anti-collaboration, in practice it is quite the opposite.'  He says that patents play a vital dual role in fostering open innovation and that they 'simultaneously protect, and disclose, the inventor’s contribution to the knowledge pool. As public documents, patents help firms to identify potentially useful technologies, knowledge and partners, facilitating formal and informal collaboration. Such collaboration would not be practical without some assurance of protection for the original innovator, as potential collaborators (particularly competitors) would otherwise have a strong incentive to free-ride off the investments of others.'