How do patents influence emerging technology innovation? How far could AI and DOGE push our current IP regime? Does it matter that China issues way more patents than the US does?

To discuss, ChinaTalk interviewed Andrei Iancu, who served as the director of the US Patent Office under the first Trump administration. Andrei has degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering, and worked at the legendary Hughes Aircraft Company before going to law school. He is currently in private practice at Sullivan and Cromwell.

Co-hosting today is ChinaTalk editor and second year law student at Duke, Nicholas Welch.

We get into…

The mounting evidence that China's patent system now dominates America’s, and whether these indicators constitute an emergency in the innovation ecosystem,
Why some US companies now prefer Chinese courts for patent enforcement,
The fundamental tension between private rights of inventors and public access to innovations,
What congressional inaction on patent eligibility means for AI innovation, and the bills that congress could pass to immediately jumpstart emerging tech investment,
What the current administration could do to help USPTO juice the economy,
Controversy surrounding the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and whether DOGE could put PTAB on the chopping block,
How Trump will approach patent law and intellectual property rights, including perspectives on appointments and potential reforms.

Thanks to CSIS for partnering with us to bring you this episode, the first in a three-episode CSIS Chip Chat series.

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Innovation Emergency: The Role of IP