Trade uncertainty stalls American innovation
The SBIR program is up for reauthorization again. It’s time for Congress to implement meaningful reform.
Startup News Digest 03/31/25
Lawmakers are feeling the heat on kids’ safety, but are they willing to grapple with the tradeoffs?
What startups need to know about 2025 tax reform
The push for a new federal law regulating digital replicas and what it means for startups
IP recap: Generative AI lawsuits and what they mean for startups
State Policy Update: What have states been up to regarding AI and how will it impact startups?
Startup News Digest 06/07/24
Startup News Digest 05/24/24
Startup News Digest 05/17/24
Startup News Digest 05/10/24
Engine Releases Startup Agenda 2021
It may sound like a cliched talking point, but it’s true—small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. And that includes the small businesses of the technology sector, the thousands of innovative, tech-enabled, high-growth companies across the country that make up the U.S. startup ecosystem.
As Policymakers Turn the Heat up on Tech Policy, Startups Need a Seat at the Table
In a new Medium post, Engine announced the launch of our Startup Agenda 2021, which outlines the policy priorities of the U.S. startup community. The Startup Agenda 2021 covers a range of policy issues that include capital access, connectivity, intellectual property, privacy, and more. As we explain in our post below, there are startups in every state and congressional district across the country, and their perspective is especially critical if policymakers hope to craft rules and regulations that boost innovation and competition.
Engine Weighs in on Section 512 Study
Earlier this week, Engine representatives participated in the U.S. Copyright Office’s Roundtable discussion on the impact and effectiveness of section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA—and the safe harbor provisions of the bill included in section 512— provide a framework to grant online service providers limited liability protections for copyright infringement stemming from user-generated content.
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.
Republicans Release Their Party Platform
As the Republican National Convention kicked off this Monday, the GOP also released the final draft of their party’s platform. The platform, which was written with input from the party’s base sourced via www.platform.gop, included generous mentions of issues important to the startup community.
Engine Statement on the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act
Engine Submits Comments with Top Tech Companies in Copyright Inquiry
On New Year’s Eve 2015, while most people were out celebrating, the Copyright Office quietly issued an notice of inquiry seeking public input on an incredibly important topic: the effectiveness of Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). For those who didn’t skip their New Year’s Eve party to brush up on copyright policy, here’s a refresher: the DMCA is a law from 1998 that, among other things, grants online service providers (OSPs)—basically, all your favorite websites—a legal “safe harbor” from facing lawsuits arising from user copyright infringements.
The VENUE Act: It's Time to Get Patent Trolls out of East Texas
This week, Senators Flake, Gardner, and Lee introduced a piece of legislation targeting one of the most egregious—and, frankly, ridiculous—problems with our current patent system. Specifically, the Venue Equity and Non-Uniformity Elimination (VENUE) Act would get patent cases out of the Eastern District of Texas, where patent trolls most commonly file their specious lawsuits. Together with the comprehensive reform legislation found in the PATENT Act, this bill would help put an end to a dangerous patent troll problem that continues to prey on this country’s startups and innovators.
