PRESS RELEASE:

Washington, D.C, March 3 – The Manufacturing Alliance on Patent Policy (MAPP) released the following statement regarding introduction of legislation to modify the U.S. patent system.

Chief among our concerns is the language that reduces penalties on those who take the intellectual property of others. While we appreciate the sponsors’ willingness to hear our concerns, the legislation as introduced includes language from last Congress that would seriously undermine our patent protections.

We share the desire to improve the patent system. We are concerned that reducing penalties for patent infringement would jeopardize manufacturing jobs and R&D investment without strengthening patent protection. A recent economic analysis showed that aspects of this legislation would put as many as 298,000 manufacturing jobs at risk and reduce R&D investment by up to $66 billion. This would be the wrong direction at a time when the American economy is struggling severely.

The manufacturing sector is one of the most creative in the American economy. Every year, we invest billions of dollars in research and development, followed by billions more to manufacture our innovations. We rely on the U.S. patent system to protect our investments, and those protections provide an incentive for us to continue manufacturing in the United States.

We believe substantial improvements to the patent system are possible, and we look forward to working with the Congress to make those improvements in ways that benefit all sectors of the American economy.

About MAPP

MAPP participants employ more than 260,000 U.S. workers in a diverse range of industries including chemicals, transportation, agriculture, food, electronics, aerospace, medical devices and building construction. In January 2009, MAPP released the first-ever economic analysis of how certain patent law proposals could impact employment and R&D investment. Please visit www.mfgpatentpolicy.org for additional information.