The United States: Balancing Robust Protection with Rapid Innovation

This chapter looks at how the United States of America is adapting its intellectual property rights (IPR) system to the challenges and opportunities presented by fast moving industries such as biotechnology and information technology. Analysis of the implications of the latest US Supreme Court decisions is presented alongside a study of the day-to-day issues faced by SME technology firms and practical recommendations for both policy makers and practitioners. In-depth case studies sourced directly from interviews with top executives offer a compelling insight into how SMEs structure their operations to identify, protect and defend IPRs with limited resources in an increasingly global marketplace. Results from a survey across multiple industries provide a snapshot of the IPR practices of SMEs, re-enforce the case for key policy enhancements and reveal some unexpected trends such as the increasing use of open source innovation in the biomedical field.