Legal Commentary

Dennis Crouch's Patently O blog draws to the Obama administration's "A Strategy for American Innovation:  Driving Toward Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs."  Although Dennis focuses on the patent aspects of the document, the 26-page document is sweeping in its scope, making it an interesting read for almost everyone.

Specifically, the document touches on presidential policy on such diverse topics as investment, competition, education, infrastructure, employment, patent reform, net neutrality, national security, international trade, the environment, open governance, the collapse of the financial and housing sectors, and research.  Underlying this breadth is, perhaps, an unstated acknowledgement that many of these issues are related in fundamental ways.  

Additionally, the administration articulates the government?s role in fostering the direction of scientific research:

We propose to strike a balance by investing in the building blocks that only the government can provide, setting an open and competitive environment for businesses and individuals to experiment and grow, and by providing extra catalysts to jumpstart innovation in sectors of national importance. In this way, we will harness the inherent ingenuity of the American people and a dynamic private sector to generate innovations that help ensure the next expansion is more solid, broad-based, and beneficial than previous ones.

The strategy document outlines a number of areas for basic scientific research, including ?the largest R&D increase in our nation?s history.? Some identified areas for funding include modernizing the electric grid, access to broadband, health care technology, and ?Unleash[ing] a Clean Energy Revolution.?  Of course, the impact of these policies will not be able to be assessed for decades. Like another president who proposed ambitious scientific goals, the success of these plans will depend on whether future administrations will continue to support them.