Three summits last week—G-7, NATO, and U.S.-EU—launched a wide range of transatlantic initiatives to coordinate policy, particularly on trade, technology, and defense. These new formats and dialogues can ensure a much deeper level of regulatory cooperation between the United States and Europe by exchanging perspectives, briefing materials, and in some cases, staff. For companies on both sides of the Atlantic, these emerging policy trends also open up new opportunities to engage decision-makers both in Washington and European capitals.
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Senate Passes Landmark Legislation on Innovation and Competition
The Senate voted 68 to 32 to pass one of the most expansive bills on U.S. economic competitiveness in decades. The United States Innovation and Competition Act (“USICA”) is the culmination of three months of bipartisan negotiations after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) invited six Senate committees to propose bills to bolster U.S. leadership in research and development (“R&D”), technological advancement, and economic growth. Before the vote, Leader Schumer remarked that “the ambitions of this legislation are large, but the premise is simple. If we want American workers and American companies to keep leading the world, the federal government must invest in science, basic research, and innovation just as we did decades after the Second World War.” He applauded the bill for “paving the way for the largest investment in science and technology in generations.”
The convincing bipartisan vote to authorize over $200 billion in federal funding reflects broad support for investing in U.S. innovation and competition. The heart of the bill is the Endless Frontier Act authorizing $81 billion to the National Science Foundation (“NSF”) and $17 billion to the Department of Energy (“DOE”) to support R&D across ten key technologies, including artificial intelligence, advanced communications technology, biotechnology, and semiconductors. The bill also includes institutional support, including establishing a new technology and innovation arm at the NSF and hundreds of provisions recognizing the Federal Government’s role in innovation and competition, including support for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (“STEM”) education; protecting research security and intellectual property rights; and competing globally, including against China. Against the backdrop of a global chips shortage, the bill appropriates $52 billion in emergency funding to support semiconductor manufacturing and R&D and $1.5 billion to support open and interoperable interface radio access networks (“open-RAN”) enabling more secure deployment of 5G.
The bill’s provisions are organized across six divisions:
Division A funds two programs that were enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act last year. First, the division appropriates $52 billion to fund programs authorized by the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (“CHIPS Act”), including financial assistance for companies to invest in facilities and equipment for semiconductor manufacturing and R&D, a Department of Defense public-private partnership to ensure a robust semiconductor supply chain, and a Department of Commerce (“DOC”) study on the capabilities of the U.S. industrial base to support semiconductor needs. Second, the division appropriates $1.5 billion to a Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, authorized by the Utilizing Strategic Allied Telecommunications Act (“USA Telecommunications Act”), to award grants for companies to research, develop, and deploy 5G and next-generation technology that uses open-RAN.
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House Competition Bill Advances as Alternative to Senate Legislation
As the newly renamed United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) (formerly known as the Endless Frontier Act) is considered on the Senate floor, an alternative competition bill is making its way through the House. The bipartisan National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Future Act (H.R. 2225) is aimed at strengthening American
Landmark Legislation Advances in the Senate Commerce Committee with Strong Bipartisan Agreement on Need to Invest in Critical Technologies
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee marked up and passed what Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called a “tremendous breakthrough” and the most significant research and development (“R&D”) legislation in over a decade. The bill, the Endless Frontier Act, originally introduced by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN),
Congress Readies Landmark Legislation on Technological Leadership, Innovation, and Global Competitiveness
Congress is setting the stage for consideration of the most extensive legislation on technological leadership, innovation, and global competitiveness in decades. Prompted by a global pandemic that has underscored the critical importance of technology, a worldwide shortage of semiconductors, and competitive tensions with China, members of Congress are developing a wide-ranging, bipartisan package with both
Senate Power-Sharing Agreement Finalized
After several weeks of negotiations proceeding in fits and starts, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reached a power-sharing agreement governing the operation of the evenly divided Senate. As expected, the deal, which passed by voice vote, largely conforms to the agreement in place when the Senate was last evenly
Democrats Expected to Invoke Congressional Review Act to Repeal Trump-Era Regulations
The nullification of recent Trump Administration regulations is yet another item on the busy agenda for congressional Democrats in the 117th Congress. With Democrats holding both the presidency and narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress, some Democrats have advocated using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal Trump-era rules finalized after August 21,
Looking Ahead on Tech and Intellectual Property Issues
Technology policy is a growing issue for the Congress, especially since it is to the economy and to our national security what oil was 20 years. Congress has a love-hate relationship with tech: love them for their innovation, jobs, and international competitiveness, and hate them for their size, bias and perceived hubris.
Enter antitrust: a
Preview of the New Senate
The election results show how deeply divided the electorate is and that division is reflected in the make-up of the government with a Democratic President and House and a Republican Senate. Neither Republicans nor Democrats have hit upon the right recipe to realign their party and shift a substantial portion of the voters in their
USPTO Uses CARES Act Authority to Extend Deadlines for Patent and Trademark Owners and Applicants
The recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act contains a little-known provision to protect inventors during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Section 12004 of the CARES Act grants the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) director the temporary authority to “toll, waive, adjust, or modify, any timing deadline” established by federal patent or