Apple, Microsoft, IBM team up for patent protections

Major tech companies including Microsoft and Apple are teaming up to advocate for strong patent protections as patent reform efforts heat up on the Hill.

Microsoft, Apple and IBM joined with GE, Pfizer, DuPont and Ford to launch the Partnership for American Innovation "to highlight the value of intellectual property and patents to US jobs and the economy." The group will focus on promoting strong patent protections, highlighting the role of those protections in the global economy and pushing for the Patent and Trademark Office to be fully funded.

The group is being advised by former Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos, now a partner at Cravath, Swaine and Moore. Kappos said he has seen "firsthand the significant role the patent system plays in encouraging inventors, promoting investment in innovation, and creating jobs." “Now is not the time to gamble with America’s innovation engine -- once patent protections are eliminated, they cannot be restored," he said.