In State Of The Union, Obama Highlights Need For Patent Reform, Trade

In the annual State of the Union speech of the United States president to Congress last night, President Obama described an innovation race, and highlighted the importance of trade agreements and passage of patent reform legislation.

“China and Europe aren’t standing on the sidelines; and neither, neither should we,” Obama said. “We know that the nation that goes all-in on innovation today will own the global economy tomorrow. This is an edge America cannot surrender.”

“Federally-funded research helped lead to the ideas and inventions behind Google and smartphones,” he said. “And that’s why Congress should undo the damage done by last year’s cuts to basic research so we can unleash the next great American discovery.”

“There are entire industries to be built based on vaccines that stay ahead of drug-resistant bacteria or paper-thin material that’s stronger than steel,” he continued. “And let’s pass a patent reform bill that allows our businesses to stay focused on innovation, not costly and needless litigation.”

The Obama administration has put forward a bill aimed at curbing the practices of patent assertion entities, or patent “trolls”.

On trade, Obama pitched it in relation to small businesses rather than the corporations that stand to gain. He referenced the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with Europe, as well as renewal of fast-track trade promotion authority in which Congress limits itself to an up-or-down vote on trade agreements negotiated by the administration.

“Let’s do more to help the entrepreneurs and small business owners who create most new jobs in America,” he said. “Over the past five years, my administration has made more loans to small business owners than any other. And when 98 percent of our exporters are small businesses, new trade partnerships with Europe and the Asia-Pacific will help them create even more jobs. We need to work together on tools like bipartisan trade promotion authority to protect our workers, protect our environment and open new markets to new goods stamped ‘Made in the USA.'”

The video and text of the speech are available from the New York Times, here.