The Need for a Patent Box Tax Regime to Encourage Domestic Manufacturing

Bernard Knight (Partner, McDermott, Will & Emery, Washington, D.C.) & Goud Maragani (Senior Counsel, USPTO), It Is Time for the United States to Implement a Patent Box Tax Regime to Encourage Domestic Manufacturing, 19 Stan. J.L. Bus. & Fin. 39 (2013):

In order to curb the outsourcing of industries and jobs, the United States must provide better incentives to encourage manufacturers to operate domestically. The United States is at a strategic disadvantage vis-à-vis many other industrialized nations that attract industry and jobs by taxing income from intellectual property sourced in those countries at a lower tax rate. This Article suggests that the United States should consider a patent box regime and outlines the benefits that such a regime should produce in terms of additional domestic manufacturing and job creation. The Article begins by discussing scholarly work that explores the link between domestic manufacturing and research and development, and explains why domestic manufacturing is critical to innovation. In turn, innovation leads to more productivity, higher paying jobs and lower unemployment. The next Section summarizes the significant features of the existing patent box tax regimes in certain European Union nations and China. Taking into account the positive attributes and deficiencies of the existing patent box regimes, the Article concludes by suggesting features that should be considered for inclusion in a U.S. patent box regime.