Confidence in the Biden Administration’s approach to IP issues continues to tumble, according to the participants in the IAM Q3 Insight Panel Report, now available in our Reports Centre. Asked “How do you think IP policy in the Biden Administration will impact patent owners?”, close to 50% of respondents stated it will have either a net negative or strong net negative impact. Not a single panellist anticipated a net benefit.
The IAM Insight Panel Report series is published quarterly and is based on detailed input from a specially selected panel of 50 global IP business leaders working inside operating companies, patent aggregators and licensing platforms, law and attorney firms, and service providers. They are based in North America, Europe and Asia. The survey for the Q3 report was conducted in late August and early September.
In the Q1 Panel Report, in which the fieldwork was done just after the Biden Administration took the helm in the United States, 15% of respondents believed that the new government would either be a strong net benefit or a net benefit for IP owners. Three months later, that number had fallen to 9%. On the other side of the coin, in Q1 those predicting a strong net negative or net negative stood at 24%. In Q2 that figure rose to 39%.
Since January, there have been a string of administration announcements relating primarily to the life sciences and SEPs that have generally been regarded to be detrimental to patent holders. Most recently, a White House Executive Order issued in July signalled a change of approach to FRAND and on issues such as march-in rights. What’s more, this has been happening while the administration has failed to nominate anyone to be the next permanent USPTO director.
By contrast, panellists identified Europe as the best place to be a patent holder. Positive UPC news, to add to a string of high-profile pro-patentee decisions across the continent’s courts and the long-standing reputation that the EPO has for issuing strong rights, were all cited as reasons for this.
Elsewhere, among other things, panellists reported that licensing royalty rates and patent prices on the secondary market remain largely stable with little sign of upward or downward pressure. In terms of most pressing concerns, workload issues came out on top, but worries about the covid-19 pandemic’s long tail have increased.