Published
December 04, 2024
Each year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce celebrates leaders who rely on IP protection to advance cultural, scientific, and technological solutions to the world’s leading challenges. The Chamber's Global IP Champions event recognizes those who constantly demonstrate leadership, ingenuity, and creativity in pursuing strong intellectual property rights and brings together the visionaries in innovation and creativity who create jobs, underpin economic growth, and enhance our shared competitiveness.
In the lead up to this year's event, the Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) is spotlighting awardees in a series of conversations about the impact of IP protection on their organizations, the intellectual property landscape, and their predictions for the future.
For this installment, I sat down with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), who shares her thoughts on how patent rights incentivize research and innovation, her ongoing work to modernize the patent system, and her commitment to increasing protections for artists.
What inspired you to become an intellectual property rights champion in Congress?
I come to my support of strong protections for intellectual property through my love of art, which has been with me for as long as I can remember. Throughout my childhood, I enjoyed sketching comic book characters and scenes from nature, and as a teenager, I drew portraits of movie stars. In college, I was able to take art history and studio classes, including drawing, painting, and ceramics. Although I never pursued art in a professional way, I have always enjoyed it and used it as a creative outlet.
Throughout my career, I have been able to express that love of art by working to protect artists, their work, and the trades that support them through our nation’s copyright laws. Though I come to my support of intellectual property through art and copyright, I also chaired the Hawaii Governor’s Task Force on Science and Technology during my time as Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii. The science, technology, and medicine that our patent system protect are no less important, and we need strong patent protections to win the global competition for innovation. As a lawyer and legislator, I recognize that the framers of our constitution provided specifically for the protection of art and science, and I am committed to upholding and strengthening those protections.
As we look ahead to the 119th Congress, what are your plans to strengthen IP rights? Are there any specific pieces of legislation you are considering sponsoring?
First, I intend to continue pushing for my IDEA Act, which aims to gather data about the participation of different groups—including women, minorities, and veterans—in our patent system. We simply cannot win the global competition for innovation if we do not bring all the talent that our nation has to offer to the table.
Second, I plan to continue working with my colleagues, Senators Coons and Tillis, on legislation to improve the patent system. There is sometimes a narrative that the patent system stands in the way of innovation, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Patent rights are essential to incentivizing research and innovation and represent a fantastic bargain—in exchange for exclusive rights to practice a patent for a limited time, we benefit as a country from the innovation and the research that went into it for all time.
Third, we must do more to ensure the protection of artists whose works are being infringed. Our country benefits as a whole, and Hawaii benefits in particular from a robust creative industry that creates skilled middle-class jobs. If we allow infringers to steal and exhibit protected works, this vital element of our economy is at risk.
How can private sector voices collaborate more effectively with the government and your office to promote robust intellectual property rights?
One of the things I appreciate about working on intellectual property issues is that they cut across our typical partisan divides. Political differences aside, we should all support encouraging and protecting American creativity and innovation. Sometimes, private sector actors react reflexively against government regulation and involvement in the economy, but the government plays a vital role in supporting and protecting intellectual property rights. So, my advice would be to reach out and work with us on these issues.
Global IP Champions
Global IP Champions
About the authors
Tom Quaadman
Tom Quaadman develops and executes strategic policies to implement a global corporate financial reporting system, address ongoing attempts of minority shareholder abuse of the proxy system, communicate the benefits of efficient American capital markets, and promote an innovation economy and the long-term interests of all investors.
