States gear up to work on AI
Startup News Digest 1/26/24
Startup News Digest 06/09/23
The Big Story: Startups call on Congress to fix R&D expensing. Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress took steps this week toward addressing a critical tax issue impacting startups’ bottom lines: a recently enacted change to how startups expense research, development, and experimentation costs. House and Senate lawmakers held two hearings this week exploring how the tax code, including incentives around R&D impact small businesses and startups.
The Patent and Trademark Office should work for everyone
You might not realize it, but whether you’re a startup founder, a digital entrepreneur, or a casual technology and Internet user—what the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) does impacts you and the agency needs to be listening to you. That’s why Engine filed comments this week on USPTO’s draft strategic plan, suggesting ways the agency could improve its plans to support all U.S. innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs.
Startup News Digest 02/03/23
The Big Story: Startup policy priorities for 2023, and how to get involved. This week, Engine released its first-ever Startup Policy Playbook, to help give members of the startup ecosystem—startup founders and employees, investors, and support organizations—an overview of the policy conversations happening this Congress and how they can get involved in amplifying the startup voice this year.
How Policymakers and Startups Alike Can Leverage Technology to Improve Patent Quality
What We Heard from the Founders about Startups & Patent Policy
This week, during the inaugural Patent Quality Week, Engine, the Consumer Technology Association, and ACT | The App Association hosted a webinar to allow more of you to hear directly from these startup leaders across the country about the exciting work they are doing, and about how patents and abusive patent assertion affect their ability to grow and succeed.
Startups & the U.S. Patent System: Prioritizing Quality and Balance to Promote Innovation
Engine has released a new report that outlines why it is so important for the government to prioritize quality and balance when it comes to patent policy.
Primer: Patents
Startup News Digest 1/11/2019
California collecting input on privacy law. The process of implementing a new California privacy law kicked off in earnest this week as state Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office held its first public forum on the issue.
Startup News Digest 11/16/18
A flood of perspectives on privacy. Late last week, the federal government got dozens of comments from companies, trade groups, non-profits and more on how to approach consumer privacy online. As part of the response to a request for comments on a broad framework for consumer privacy, Engine submitted comments to the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, outlining the ways in which various privacy proposals and laws affect startups.
Engine Files Amicus in HP v. Berkheimer
Engine filed an amicus petition to the Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday, November 13th to urge the court to consider the case. In our brief, we argue that the Federal Circuit’s decision in the case conflicts with the Supreme Court’s ruling on patentable subject matter eligibility.
Startup News Digest 10/26/18
The Big Story: Patent trolls aren’t a fairy tale. Last week, in a speech to the Eastern District of Texas Bar Association, the United States Patent and Trademark Office Director Iancu told a room full of trial lawyers that there is no patent troll problem and that it's just a "narrative" being pushed by large companies trying to decrease innovation and competition. This week, we pushed back on that claim, explaining that abusive patent litigation is “a real threat and one every startup founder dreads.”
Startup News Digest 10/19/2018
Pushing 5.9 GHz for 5G. The federal government is seeing more and more pressure to free up airwaves currently reserved for vehicle safety so that they can be used for the next generation of wireless networks, especially as different vehicle safety technologies that don’t depend on that spectrum are becoming commonplace.
Startup News Digest 10/12/2018
The Big Story: A second Senate privacy hearing. The Senate Commerce Committee held its second hearing on online privacy this week, which included testimony from privacy advocates pushing for federal privacy legislation.
Startup News Digest 9/7/2018
One Year After TC Heartland, Texas NPEs Migrate to Greener Pastures
A year after the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Group Brands LLC, however, Marshall may be returning to the normalcy of tumbleweeds and prairie, as NPEs who once filed there flock instead to other jurisdictions.
Engine Statement on President Trump’s Pick for United States Patent and Trademark Office Director
Engine looks forward to working with President Trump’s for nominee Andrei Iancu for the position of the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As a non-profit advocacy and research organization that supports startups, we understand what an important position the Director of the USPTO is to protecting the innovation ecosystem.
Startup News Digest: 7/21/2017
The First Comment Period for the FCC NPRM on Net Neutrality Closes. Monday was the deadline for the first round of comments to be filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that addresses the 2015 Open Internet Order. Engine was one of over 10 million groups and individuals to file comments with the Commission. The deadline for reply comments extends to August 16. In its submission, Engine explained the need for clear regulations to protect startups from threatening behavior by ISPs and incumbents. “The NPRM’s indifference to the ISP abuse of their terminating access monopoly power is incredibly dangerous to entrepreneurship. Without bright line rules banning anti-competitive ISP practices, startups will be put at a structural disadvantage in competing with well-heeled incumbents, causing venture investment to dry up and innovation to suffer,” Executive Director, Evan Engstrom, wrote. The White House, which has been mostly mum on the topic, also weighed in on the debate this week. “The best way to get fair rules for everyone is for Congress to take action and create regulatory and economic certainty,” deputy White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement.
