IP Commission Releases New Report: “We must protect America’s ideas and IP in order to promote innovation and competitveness,” says Council President Deborah Wince-Smith

Lisa Hanna
Vice President, Communications
Council on Competitiveness
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(Washington, D.C) –The Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (The IP Commission) today released the key findings and policy recommendations from a new report that assesses the scale and scope of the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars a year from American companies due to intellectual property theft by foreign entities. Council on Competitiveness President and CEO, Deborah Wince-Smith sits on the IP Commission, which is co-chaired by former U.S. Ambassador to China and former Governor Jon Huntsman and former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair.
 
“Innovation is what America has always been about – and if we continue down this current path in which scientific discoveries and technologies are tracked and stolen from American universities, national laboratories, private think tanks and start-up companies – we stand to lose a great deal more economically,” said Wince-Smith. “IP protections in the United States are based on the fundamental belief that providing limited controls to investors and creators incentivizes innovation, driving forward human and economic development. To that end, we must protect our ideas and IP in order to promote innovation and competitiveness.”

Formed in 2012, the IP Commission is an independent initiative representing the sectors of research, defense, academia, government, labor, and business. The three purposes of the Commission are to:
1.      Document and assess the causes, scale, and other major dimensions of international intellectual property theft as they affect the United States;
2.      Document and assess the role of China in international intellectual property theft;
3.      Propose appropriate U.S. policy responses that would mitigate ongoing and future damage and obtain greater enforcement of intellectual property rights by China and other infringers.
 
To learn more about the IP Commission or to download the full report, click here.

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ABOUT THE COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS

The Council on Competitiveness is the only group of corporate CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders committed to the future prosperity of all Americans and enhanced U.S. competitiveness in the global economy through the creation of high-value economic activity in the United States. The Council is a non-partisan and non-governmental organization.