On October 8th, 2025, Andrei Iancu testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property during the Hearing on the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA).
Iancu, Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, former Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and CSIS Senior Adviser, emphasized the breakdown of Section 101 and the urgent need for patent eligibility reform.
“Over the last fifteen years, the Supreme Court has steadily eroded the careful balance Congress established in the Patent Act of 1952. Beginning with Bilski v. Kappos in 2010 and continuing through Mayo v. Prometheus in 2012, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics in 2013, and Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank in 2014, the Court took longexisting, but narrow, judicially-created exceptions to section 101—“abstract ideas,” “laws of nature,” and “natural phenomena”—and broadened them beyond recognition. Each of these cases, considered individually, appeared to resolve narrow disputes. Together, however, and especially as applied by the lower courts, they have produced a doctrine that is unpredictable, unworkable, and harmful to innovation.”
“The urgency of reform is underscored by the fact that, in all twelve judges sitting on the en banc Federal Circuit lamented the state of eligibility law, describing it as incoherent and unworkable.3 Their concerns have been echoed by witnesses and stakeholders from across industries, academia, and the innovation economy, who have testified to the chilling effect this uncertainty has on research, investment, and commercialization.”
Watch the full hearing here, and read Mr. Iancu’s opening remarks here.
