Our Beliefs about Intellectual Property: The undersigned groups and individuals believe that strong intellectual property (“IP”) rights are a pillar of America’s economic strength and global leadership. Policymakers must take affirmative steps to ensure that intellectual property rights in America remain strong both domestically and the gold-standard globally. Robust and predictable IP rights promote innovation and creativity by granting enforceable exclusive rights to authors and inventors. Patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets create the legal framework that enables investment in new and improved creations and innovations. A robust innovation economy simply cannot happen without a reliable IP system. IP empowers individuals and firms to develop their creative and inventive capacities to the fullest with the ability to seek a return on their investment. From governments to academic research institutions, to businesses large and small, IP rights facilitate collaboration and technology transfer to address society’s greatest challenges through licensing and rights management that gives confidence to both inventors and users that their rights will be respected. Enforceable IP rights enable the allocation of resources to the development of new creative works and technologies that can prolong human life and enhance the human experience. IP rights facilitate the dissemination of new technologies. We contend and hereby affirm: That we support, promote, and protect America’s global leadership; That IP is vital to America’s lead in emerging and critical technologies; Strong global IP policy and collaboration with other governments supports an innovative ecosystem in America’s allies and respect for individual rights around the world; That IP fosters America’s creativity and individual expression, and provides global inspiration; That bad actors should be held accountable for IP crimes, violations, and theft; That we must actively promote a framework of strong intellectual property laws to protect legal rights to inventions, creative works, brands, and trade secrets; That intellectual property protections are a benefit to society, serving as a catalyst for innovation, a means to return fair value to investors, and a mechanism to facilitate the commercialization of new creative and inventive ideas; That we are committed to working with like-minded partners to share information and best practices, and otherwise support and promote legal and regulatory frameworks, administrative capacity, and enforcement mechanisms, to protect and promote intellectual property at all levels of governance throughout the global economy. We believe the attached principles provide a guide to policymakers as they seek to address future challenges, and we are confident that if they follow them then the 21st century will be, like the 20th century, a truly American century. A Principled Approach to a New Narrative on IP Intellectual property rights are fundamental to America’s global leadership in innovation. The United States Government must adopt policies that support, protect, and promote strong IP rights—which are indispensable in providing a reliable basis for investment in risky, capital-intensive research and development, creative development, or brand development activities. In an era of increasing global competition and heightened international tensions, strong IP rights are critical to maintaining the United States’ economic preeminence, national security, and enhancing innovative and creative opportunities for Americans. Small and medium-sized businesses, independent inventors, and individual creators are the backbone of America’s economic growth. They are at the forefront of bringing new and disruptive products, ideas, and brands to American consumers. Even more than their larger partners in the creative and innovative ecosystems, they need legal certainty and efficient, streamlined administration and enforcement of rights, in order to invest and succeed. The success of American ingenuity is enabled by the strength of our market-based economy. When policies defy rather than reinforce market principles, they threaten United States leadership. This has too often been the case with respect to IP policy. As a result, the United States risks missing the opportunity to fully reach its potential and shape another American century. Ceding our role as exemplars of the world’s IP ecosystem threatens to jeopardize American innovation. Worse still, competitors will fill the void and catapult ahead of the United States in the race to build a world-class innovation economy. Together, the undersigned industry thought leaders, former public officials, and leading academics developed these principles to clarify the narrative of IP rights, policy, and leadership in the United States. These principles represent comprehensive guidelines to reset public policy debates and accurately represent the role of IP rights in American leadership. These principles should be viewed globally and cohesively in order to result in a set of policies, all of which are necessary to foster continued American leadership and economic opportunity. The Principles: 1. Protect America’s Global Innovation Leadership. America is engaged in global competition with foreign actors for technological dominance. This global competition is a national security imperative. The nation that invents technologies of the future will set the global agenda and be the global leader. That nation can and must be America—which stands for freedom, democracy, and human rights. To protect America’s economic security, physical security, and cultural values, we must embrace an accurate, thorough, and global representation of the nexus between strong IP and America’s global leadership. An Accurate Narrative. A frank representation of the role of strong IP protection must acknowledge its relationship to global leadership and national security. This emphasis builds on the long and fitting association of IP rights with academic research excellence and the economic benefits of jobs, innovation, and growth. A Thorough Analysis. IP law and policy must be considered through the lens of potential impacts on national security. The 21st-century reality is that the nation that invents first is the nation that will set global standards. United States policymakers, working with collaborative global partners, must promote a new paradigm where national security through technological leadership is a basis for strong IP protections. A Global American Vision. Policy predicated on fundamental human rights, democracy, and the rule of law comprise a uniquely American vision of the world. This vision is based on America’s belief in fundamental economic and innovation principles that create a rising tide that benefits all mankind. Such a vision stands in stark contrast to the tightly controlled designs of some of America’s leading economic competitors. The United States must approach the debate around IP protections as an opportunity to project our values to the world and to maintain global leadership in setting the 21st-century’s innovation standards and discoveries. 2. Lead the World in Critical and Emerging Technologies. The 20th century was the American century. From life-saving medicines, personal computers, semiconductors, ultra-fast internet connectivity, innovative transportation and energy efficiency, and other technologies that make daily life easier, longer and more productive, America was at the forefront of global innovation. For the 21st century to repeat the American century, the United States must advance policies that foster, develop, and invest in American innovation while promoting innovation friendly environments around the world. Intellectual property is a key driver of this innovation. Foster policies that promote critical innovations. The United States must have the appropriate legal frameworks to promote innovations in critic