The following statement is attributed to Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, Consumer Technology Association (CTA), regarding today's House Judiciary Committee hearing on Oversight of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): 

"A strong and reliable patent system is critical to the growth of the U.S. economy. We thank Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) for holding today's oversight hearing with USPTO Director Andrei Iancu. We are confident Congress and the USPTO can work together to ensure the United States maintains the world's best patent system. Ensuring we have a strong patent system means protecting critical USPTO programs such as Inter Partes Review (IPR) from special interest attacks. Preserving an efficient and fair IPR program is critical to incentivizing innovation, protecting property and curbing extortionate patent litigation. 
  
"CTA also applauds the introduction of the BIG Data for IP Act, H.R. 5887, by Reps. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Hank Johnson (D-GA). This legislation - the House counterpart to legislation introduced by Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) - is a significant step toward making sure the USPTO and its patent examiners have the resources they need. The bill extends the USPTO's authority to set user fees in exchange for implementing modern IT systems and big-data analytics. We expect these modernizations will help support patent quality, lead to a more efficient process for patent applicants and keep our country at the forefront of global innovation."