Friendly Fire: How the Biden Administration’s Innovation Policy is Undermining U.S. National Security

Although the United States has long been a leader in innovation and an active participant in standards development activities, recent policy developments may discourage American companies from continuing to engage in these activities.  These developments include difficulties in obtaining patent protection, government overrides of patent rights, and effectively prohibiting injunctive relief for patents covering inventions incorporated in technology standards.  Because national security is intimately tied to innovation and competition, perhaps in unexpected ways, these policy developments are not just harming innovation, but also America’s ability to defend itself.  In effect, the United States is harming its national security through the friendly fire of its own policies.

By Kristen Osenga^[1]

Amid the various conflicts occurring around the world and the recent campaign against the global pandemic, there is quieter struggle occurring in the innovation space. It is not the usual race to the Patent Office or battle for greater market share; it is a struggle for control over the direction of innovation in several key industries. While this may seem minor in comparison to the other wars being waged right now, the issue of technological control will have extraordinary impact on the question of whether the United States will be able to defend itself and aid others in future conflicts against a foreign adversary or a virulent disease. This is because the