000534	02alliance_wmp_a_16.wma
000000	MICHAEL GORMAN:  Okay so now we want to start talking about the Innovation Alliance.
000005	And according to the website the Innovation Alliance favors targeted balanced patent reform by improving patent quality, enhancing certainty
000014	and preserving market-based evaluations of patents as opposed to the massive restructuring advocated by the Coalition for Patent Fairness.
000022	And I was hoping you could expand a little bit on where you diverge from the other tech companies to give the listeners a good idea of what this organization
000029	is all about and some of the major differences between the IA and the Coalition.
000037	TARANEH MAGHAME:  As you may know there are a number of groups on the Hill that are heavily involved in the efforts on patent reform on one side or the other.
000047	The activity began over two or three years ago and initially it had a very different tone to it.
000055	And what it ended up appearing as at that time was that there was a tech group that wanted patent reform because they needed to defend against quote-unquote
000107	so-called trolls that were bringing frivolous litigation against them.
000112	And the other side was referred to as the pharma side, basically who did not want any reforms to pass.
000122	What our group was formed to do primarily when we started out about a year ago was to ensure that it is understood both on the Hill
000134	and elsewhere that there is division within the tech community as well,
000139	that not all technology companies are aligned with organizations such as the Coalition for Patent Fairness
000147	which is for the most part representative of the views of what we call the mega-tech companies.
000153	And that there is a huge other sector, not huge in terms of sizes of companies but huge in terms of number of companies
000201	that have a different interest in the reform effort.
000207	And that is to maintain the strength of the patent system and the ability to protect their innovation and to enforce their intellectual property
000215	when the time comes.
000216	And our group represents that point of view.
000221	We have sent the message that there is a different interest in tech which encompasses the interests of licensing companies such as ours who,
000233	basically their lifeblood is the revenues that they receive from the technology that they have developed.
000241	MICHAEL GORMAN:  And Derek.
000243	DEREK MINIHANE:  I think one of the points of confusion is that a lot of the lobbying groups on the Hill talk in terms of wanting to promote innovation.
000256	And that is essentially something that all the groups say.
000259	And so you really have to dig down into it.
000301	Okay so how do they want to promote innovation?
000304	And what the companies in the Coalition for Patent Fairness or that Coalition has been pushing essentially is that they want freedom to operate.
000314	They're not that interested in protecting their innovations.
000318	They just want to be able to continue to sell products out there because they've already reached a certain critical mass
000324	where it's mostly focused on product evolution as opposed to doing cutting-edge research or looking at completely new business models.
000333	Whereas the companies in the Innovation Alliance, many of them are small companies that are doing more cutting-edge research and entering
000342	or making completely new markets.
000344	In order to do that you need strong patent protection because it takes time to develop these markets.
000349	And without the strong patent system, you don't have that time.
000354	And so I think one of the big differences is that the Coalition for Patent Fairness is really looking to change the litigation system to give themselves more of
000404	a benefit and essentially weaken the patent system in order to get freedom to operate.
000408	And we're more interested in strengthening the system in order to protect the innovations that we're coming up with.
000413	MICHAEL GORMAN:  Okay.