US Inventor 2020 Review and What's ComingReview of 2020 and What's Coming in 2021 It wasn't a fluke that America led the world in innovation for 200 years. It began with the revolutionary concept of giving the common person ownership of what he or she invented and patented. The mission of US Inventor is to restore that right, which has been so significantly reduced from recent legislation and judicial actions. What we've accomplished and will accomplish depends on the combined efforts of our members. Many individuals across America have helped in the mission of US Inventor. You don't have to be an inventor to be on our team, you just have to care about the future of America and the American Dream. One individual who needs to be recognized for his stellar efforts and commitment to our mission is Josh Malone. We wouldn't be where we are without him. 2020 in Review The political focus on the virus and then the election definitely got in the way, but we still made progress. Here are a few accomplishments: We stopped the re-enactment of an expired patent invalidation program at the PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board). There was a significant effort to get CBM (Covered Business Method) Review re-enacted by placing the text deep within the Appropriations Bill. We mounted an effort to head this off by having inventors nationwide inform their Senators and US Representatives. The CBM text did not make it into the final version of the bill. We held a nationwide election for an inventor to sit on the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC), and then got him appointed for the position. Dan Brown, prolific inventor and professor at Northwestern University, will represent the interests of inventors and and help our efforts. Our efforts to get the USPTO to apply the rulemaking process to the PTAB got things moving in that direction. Part of this was the filing of a lawsuit to enjoin the Patent Office from doing any PTAB trials until rulemaking was done. Whether or not the injunction will occur is in question, but the USPTO Director has put out a request for comments regarding the rules needed. We assisted in the filing of a number of Amicus Briefs, one of which sought to get the US Supreme Court to take up the Arthrex Case in 2021, which it has decided to do. This is the case where the Appeals Court ruled that all of the PTAB judges were appointed unconstitutionally but proposed an unconstitutional way for them to continue. So, they are still invalidating our patents. SCOTUS will now take a look and possibly do something that helps us. We've submitted several FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) Requests that have provided previously unknown information that has helped our efforts and will continue to do so. We started a live WebCast called In The Trenches With Inventors, The Battle To Save Patents. This WebCast is designed to generate interest in our fight by interviewing inventors who have had their patents attacked at the PTAB. We've kicked off a program to have inventors who have been harmed by our broken patent system interviewed by various media nationwide to make our issue broadly known. 2021 and Beyond We've had the benefit of a USPTO Director who has had an interest in our issues. We certainly want Andrei Iancu to continue as Director, but we could face the appointment of a new Director that is close to Big Tech. Any reader new to our fight might be shocked to know that, prior to President Trump's appointment of Mr. Iancu, the USPTO Director was the former head of patent strategy for Google! The US Supreme Court's Arthrex Case is coming this spring. The PTAB judges have been ruled as having been appointed unconstitutionally, so why are they still invalidating our patents? We need to really make our voices heard on this one, and we are considering how to do so. Your help will be needed. A legitimate path to success in our fight is to make our issue known to the broad, voting public. The average person is usually shocked to find out that a patent can be so easily invalidated and the inventor left with nothing. We have embarked on a program of media interviews to make our issue known. What You Can Do You can help by communicating our message far and wide. If you haven't yet signed our Inventor Rights Resolution, please do so and get your associates to as well (go here). When we have a particular effort where the voices of inventors are needed, like the effort to get the PTAB invalidation text out of the Appropriations Bill, be ready to help. Support our effort by donating (we are a 501(c)(4) Non-Profit). Any amount is appreciated, but a $100 donation gets you a special US Inventor Mug (go here). Conclusion As you ring in the New Year, realize that we are fighting full-time to restore your rights as inventors and that we are your voice in Washington DC. American innovation and the success of disruptive startups based on patents depends on the ability of any inventor to defend his or her patent rights, Among your New Years Resolutions, consider resolving to be active in our efforts. With enough inventors and interested parties involved, we will win this battle. Thank you for your help. Best, Randy Landreneau, President US Inventor, Inc.