Startups need competition agenda that supports innovation
Fertility is a critical concern for both humans and the animals we share our world with. Whether addressing the rising rates of human infertility, finding ways to feed the global population more efficiently, or working to save endangered species, Dr. Cara Wells is tackling it all. Through her company, EMGenisys, Dr. Wells is advancing the science of embryonics for the 21st century. We sat down with her to discuss her product, patents, and access to capital.
Engine Statement regarding Small Business Investment Act of 2025
With a background in economic development and a startup itch, Lauren McCullough co-founded Tromml, helping the automotive industry understand sales dates. We sat down with her to discuss her company, the role of open source in AI, navigating intellectual property rights, and more.
Founded in 2022, Flamel.ai helps multi-location and franchise brands stay true to their brand guide while delivering content at scale. With a background in venture capital, co-founder Paul Ehlinger is a seasoned expert on issues facing startups today. We sat with Paul to discuss AI, open source, and more.
The Big Story: USMCA includes critical digital provisions. This week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that a deal was reached with the Administration, Canada, and Mexico on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that includes digital provisions that will help startups grow their businesses abroad. Prior to this agreement, Speaker Pelosi indicated a desire to remove certain language in USMCA that echoes the intermediary liability protections found in U.S. law.
All too often, startups and other companies across the country fail to take advantage of local, state, and federal business incentive programs that could help them grow. IncentiLock, a St. Louis-based startup, is working to ease the incentive headache for startups and governments alike by offering software to automatically calculate tax credits and incentive benefits. We recently spoke with Jane Vancil, IncentiLock’s founder and CEO, to learn more about the company and Missouri’s startup ecosystem.
This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on “encryption and lawful access.” While the hearing largely focused on the ways large tech companies use encryption—Apple and Facebook testified—companies of all sizes, especially startups, rely on increased privacy and security protections to gain and keep user trust as well as to differentiate themselves from larger competitors.
The Big Story: Digital trade provisions critical for startups. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is reportedly pushing to have digital trade provisions that provide intermediary liability protections for startups removed from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). These protections are based on the U.S. legal framework that startups rely on to launch, grow, and compete with major Internet companies.
New Haven, the home of Yale University, is quickly emerging as a hub of entrepreneurial activity in Connecticut. One of the organizations spurring early-stage startup development in The Elm City is Collab, a community-led accelerator that works to build up the confidence, skills, and resources available to emerging founders. We recently spoke with Caroline Smith and Margaret Lee—the co-founders and co-directors of Collab—to learn more about the accelerator’s work, the Connecticut startup ecosystem, and the work they’re doing to empower future entrepreneurs.
When the United States negotiates trade agreements, it has the chance to give startups a similar legal framework abroad that they rely on domestically. This is critically important for smaller companies looking to effectively compete in an increasingly global ecosystem. While Congress still has the ability to update that digital legal framework as it sees fit, the inclusion of digital trade protections in trade agreements gives startups the certainty they need to compete globally.
TLDR: An appeals court is currently considering whether Internet platforms can be held liable when their users are accused of trademark infringement. Redbubble was accused of direct trademark infringement based on the accusation that its users were selling infringing Ohio State products on the platform. A trial court concluded that Redbubble should not be liable in this circumstance, and Engine filed a brief in support of Redbubble’s position on appeal.
The Big Story: New Senate privacy bill misses the mark for startups. A group of Senate Democrats this week unveiled a data privacy bill that would codify heavy-handed rules governing how companies collect, store, and utilize consumer data and could open companies up to bad faith lawsuits, creating unmanageable costs for startups.
The Big Story: FCC proposes unlicensed spectrum boost. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced a proposal this week to reallocate spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use, a move that would open up the airwaves for more Wi-Fi. The 5.9 GHz band is currently reserved for vehicle-to-vehicle communications but has largely been unused for its intended purpose. Chairman Pai’s proposal would reallocate the lower 45 MHz for unlicensed use while setting the upper 40 MHz aside for vehicle safety purposes.
Salt Lake City is the original home of Mobius Audio, a music-focused startup that is using the latest technology to create a multidimensional sound platform for recording artists while teaching them to function as their own businesses. Carter Pochynok, the founder of Mobius, is using his background in music to guide the emerging company through its seed funding stage as it looks to establish itself on an international scale. We recently caught up with Carter to discuss his policy concerns, Mobius’ work and future, and what lawmakers can do to better support U.S. entrepreneurs.
TLDR: The Supreme Court last week took up a copyright case and is hopefully poised to resolve issues about the copyrightability and permissible use of software interfaces next year. The case in question arose from a long-running dispute between Oracle and Google about one type of software interface—application programming interfaces, or APIs. Without the Supreme Court’s intervention, there is a risk that companies will copyright APIs or other interfaces, and then be able to prevent other companies from using them without paying for a license.
Last week, Engine and the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in response to the agency’s call for comments on patenting artificial intelligence inventions. The USPTO is collecting information to determine “whether further guidance is needed to promote the predictability and reliability of patenting [AI] inventions and to ensure that appropriate patent protection incentives are in place to encourage further innovation in and around this critical area.”
Consumer privacy has been on the minds of companies, regulators, and consumers in the wake of high-profile privacy missteps by major Internet companies and sweeping new privacy rules in Europe. While the U.S. approaches consumer privacy law on a sector-by-sector basis, states are using the momentum around the consumer privacy debate to pass their own varying — and sometimes conflicting — laws.
The Big Story: House panel examines big tech's impact on small businesses. The House Small Business Committee held a hearing yesterday to examine big tech’s impact on small businesses, with lawmakers bringing in witnesses from large tech companies, small retailers, and nonprofit organizations to discuss the benefits and challenges of large online platforms.
The fate of up to 800,000 individuals and their ability to live and work in the United States will be decided in the coming months, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday for the consolidated cases challenging the Trump Administration’s termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While the justices appeared split in their questioning, the outcome of this case will not just have ramifications for the recipients and their communities, but also stands to impact the desirability of the United States as a destination for high-skilled workers to put their skills and entrepreneurial initiative to the test.
SGNT is working to address a critical global concern from their homebase in Tucson, Arizona. The tech startup, founded in 2017, has developed an exciting new hardware and software suite to ensure the secure transport of goods and pharmaceuticals around the world. Emil Tremblay, SGNT’s co-founder and CEO, recently took the time to give us some insights into the company and how it got started.
Engine submitted comments to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law following the panel’s October 29th hearing on competition in labor markets.
TLDR: Startups are keeping a close watch as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. Access to talent is vital to the success of startups, and numerous studies have shown that immigrants make important contributions to the entrepreneurial community. Policies and decisions that suggest the U.S. is a bad place for immigrants—like a ruling against the DACA policy—would be bad for the startup community.
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. changes the framework for appointing and removing certain patent office officials—the Administrative Patent Judges (APJs). APJs serve on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board which, among other functions, can take a “second look” at weak or overbroad patents that previously issued, and invalidate claims that should not have issued in the first place. Instead of challenging a low-quality patent in federal court, which takes multiple years and millions of dollars, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board can consider a limited scope of validity challenges in less than 18 months and for a fraction of the cost. Therefore, it is a more accessible place for startups to go to challenge weak patents they are accused of infringing, and has the ancillary benefit of increasing overall patent quality and making the abusive patent litigation business less profitable.
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