America’s Innovation Crisis: A Plan to Save Small Businesses and Inventors

The Patent System: A Shield That’s Broken

When you invent something, a patent is supposed to protect your idea. It’s like a shield that lets you say, “This is mine. I created this, and no one else can take it.” But today, that shield doesn’t work for small inventors.

Big companies use something called the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to challenge patents. The PTAB was supposed to solve disputes, but instead, it has become a tool to wipe out small inventors.

Here’s the reality:

• Big companies challenge patents because they can afford long legal battles.
• Small inventors and businesses know they can’t afford to fight back.
• 84% of the time, the PTAB sides with the big companies.

For small businesses, this is devastating. Imagine the Small Business Administration (SBA) investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into a company because it has a valuable patent. That patent is its biggest asset. But when that patent gets taken away, the company loses everything.

How can the SBA justify investing in small businesses if it doesn’t also fight to protect those investments? If small businesses lose their patents, it’s not just their loss; It’s a loss for the SBA, the taxpayers who fund it, and the innovation that drives our economy.

The SBA, as a government agency committed to fostering small businesses, has a unique opportunity to be part of the solution. While organizations like US Inventor, Spark Innovation, and the Association for American Innovation are fighting for patent reform, they lack the reach and influence that the SBA could provide. By advocating for change, the SBA can help ensure small businesses and their innovations are protected from systemic exploitation by large corporations.

The RESTORE Act and the SBA’s Responsibility

Some laws, like the RESTORE Act, are making things worse. On the surface, these laws sound like they’re helping, but in reality, they create loopholes that make it harder for inventors and small businesses to stop others from stealing their ideas.

Congress needs to understand that small businesses and inventors are being destroyed. And when that happens, the SBA’s investments are wasted.

This raises a critical question: If the SBA is going to invest in small businesses, why isn’t it also working to fix the laws that undermine those small businesses?

The True Cost of Losing a Patent

Here’s the cost of losing a patent:

• The business fails. A patent is often a small business’s most valuable asset.
• Jobs are lost. When businesses fail, employees lose their jobs, and communities suffer.
• Investments are wasted. When the SBA’s investment is lost, it’s taxpayer money being wasted—money meant to help small businesses grow, not fail because their patents weren’t protected.

But the consequences don’t stop there. For business owners, the personal toll can be devastating. As a guarantor on an SBA-backed loan, I have personally faced the loss of my home and remaining assets despite fighting tirelessly to defend my company. When my small business, supported by an SBA loan, was destroyed through prolonged patent litigation driven by a major tech company, the impact was not just on the company—it extended to me as the entrepreneur.

The SBA’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP 50 57 3), specifically pages 113-115, outline provisions for the release of guarantors when borrowers experience extraordinary hardship. These guidelines are designed to protect entrepreneurs like me (we hope anyway)—individuals whose businesses failed due to circumstances beyond their control, not because of poor financial management. My situation aligns directly with these provisions: a systemic flaw in the patent system enabled a corporation with vast resources to financially overwhelm and destroy my company, undermining the very mission of the SBA to support small business growth and innovation. At this point, I am relying on the SBA’s SOP guidelines to give me a fair opportunity to start over, rebuild, and once again contribute to the economy.

Please note I have direct legal communications from GoPro’s lawyers stating, “Even if 360Heros is not paying attorneys’ fees in the Delaware litigation, it will soon have to incur and pay costs, including for, among other things, experts and discovery. Likewise, to the extent that its attorneys, who have been retained on contingency, will be unlikely to recover on its investment in the case.”

This statement has nothing to do with patent litigation; it’s legal company destruction. It reflects GoPro’s calculated strategy to financially drain 360Heros, emphasizing their intent to exhaust the company’s resources and make it difficult to sustain the legal battle.

However, addressing this issue as a whole requires a broader, collaborative approach. If the SBA—a key government agency committed to supporting small businesses—were to take an active role in patent reform, it could provide greater influence and resources to address these systemic issues. Smaller organizations like US Inventor, Spark Innovation, and the Association for American Innovation are already tirelessly advocating for change, but they are limited in reach compared to the SBA. By joining forces with these groups and inventors, the USPTO, and Congress, the SBA could help bridge this enormous gap in protecting innovation and ensuring that the patent system works as intended—for everyone, not just the largest players.

The SBA must also recognize that supporting small businesses doesn’t end with investment. When systemic forces, like flaws in the patent system legal tactics, wipe out promising companies, the SBA must provide pathways for relief—such as releasing personal guarantors—so entrepreneurs can rebuild and contribute to innovation and the economy once again. Without such mechanisms, business owners are left crushed and unable to recover, and the American dream of innovation dies alongside their businesses.

By working together with inventors and policymakers to address these critical challenges, the SBA has an opportunity to honor its mission, grow stronger, lead meaningful reform, and ensure that innovation continues to thrive.

America’s Innovation at Risk

The United States has always been a leader in innovation. From the lightbulb to the airplane, the most important inventions came from American dreamers and builders. But today, we’re falling behind.

Here’s why:

• Other countries, like China, are protecting their inventors.
• Big companies are exploiting our broken system to crush smaller competitors.
• The PTAB and unfair patent laws are wiping out small inventors.

If we don’t fix this, China will win the race for innovation while American businesses, backed by taxpayer dollars, are left in ruins. As a matter of fact, China has already doubled the number of issued patents compared to the US.

How We Can Fix the System

Fixing the broken patent system requires a lot of cooperation and action. The SBA, Congress, and the USPTO all have a critical role to play in protecting small inventors and businesses. Together, they can rebuild the trust that fuels American innovation and economic growth.

1. The SBA Must Protect Its Investments

The SBA invests taxpayer dollars into small businesses, betting on their success. If a company’s greatest asset—its patent—can be taken away so easily, the SBA’s investment becomes worthless. So here are some ideas that the SBA can do:

• Create a Patent Defense Fund: The SBA can establish a fund specifically to help small businesses defend their patents against invalidation at the PTAB. This fund would act as a lifeline, allowing businesses to fight back without collapsing under legal costs.
• Advocate for Policy Reform: The SBA should actively work with Congress to reform laws that undermine small inventors. By amplifying the voices of small businesses, the SBA can help shape policies that protect its investments.
• Patent Protection Workshops: Educate small business owners about the risks they face and provide resources to strengthen their patents before challenges arise. 

Today the USPTO does have workshops, however its efforts would be more effective if partnered with the SBA who stand for small business growth, and it sends a clear message: small businesses are worth protecting, and innovation matters.

2. Congress Must Reform the Laws

Laws like the RESTORE Act and loopholes in the PTAB process are causing significant harm to small inventors and businesses. So why not just shut down the PTAB? Congress has the power to change this. Here’s how:

• Shutdown the PTAB: If you just shut down the PTAB you just limited the ability of big corporations to file repeated, costly challenges against the same patent which is a documented fact that 84% of the time small business lose.
• Restore Injunctive Relief: Allow inventors to stop others from using their patents without permission. Injunctive relief puts power back in the hands of the patent holder, ensuring their hard work isn’t exploited.
• Pass a Small Inventor Protection Act: Create a law specifically designed to protect small businesses and individual inventors. This act would ensure fairness in patent challenges and, cap litigation costs, and prevent large companies from overwhelming smaller inventors.

Details of the Small Inventor Protection Act.

To truly protect innovation, “small businesses” and “small inventors” must be defined not by rigid dollar limits but by their relative scale and resources compared to the companies challenging them. A million-dollar business is still “small” when pitted against a billion-dollar corporation. I think the SBA’s involvement is critical!

Key principles of the act would include:

• Fair Competition: Prevent companies with vast legal and financial resources from using their power to overwhelm smaller inventors in patent disputes.
• Resource Balance: Ensure that the ability to defend a patent is not determined by the size of a company’s wallet but by the merit of the invention itself.
• Startup and Growth Protection: Protect businesses and inventors at any stage—whether they’re just starting out or on the verge of success—from unfair challenges designed to crush innovation.

By focusing on fairness and relative scale, this act would prevent a scenario where a billion-dollar company can use its legal might to wipe out a thriving small business with a valuable invention.

If Congress recognizes that protecting innovation is not just about patents—it’s about creating an environment where small businesses and individual inventors can grow, compete, and succeed without fear of being crushed by giants. This is essential to keeping America’s innovation engine running strong and ensuring that creativity, not financial dominance, drives our economy forward.

1. Collaboration Is Key

This problem is too big for any one organization to solve alone. To fix the system, the SBA, Congress, and the USPTO must work together with small businesses, inventors, and advocacy groups.

Here’s how collaboration can make a difference:

• National Innovation Task Force: Create a joint task force to study the challenges facing small inventors and develop real, actionable solutions. This task force should include representatives from the SBA, Congress, the USPTO, and small business advocates.
• Public Hearings and Inventor Feedback: Congress and the USPTO should hold public hearings to gather input from inventors and small business owners who have directly impacted the broken system. Listening to real stories will drive meaningful reform.
• Incentivize Innovation Protection: Offer tax breaks or grants for small businesses that invest in patent protection and research. By incentivizing innovation, the government can fuel growth and create jobs.

Together, we can build a system that protects inventors, supports small businesses, and keeps America ahead in the race for innovation.

2. Educate and Unite the Public

This fight isn’t just for inventors—it’s for everyone. The public needs to understand what’s at stake.

• Awareness Campaigns: Launch campaigns to educate people about how patent laws impact small businesses, jobs, and the economy. When the public understands the problem, they can demand change.
• Support for Local Leaders: Encourage people to contact their Congressmen and demand action. Local leaders have the power to push for reforms that protect small businesses and innovation.

America’s greatest strength has always been its people—its dreamers, inventors, and builders. When we come together, we can solve any problem. By fixing the system, we protect more than just patents—we protect jobs, investments, and the American dream.

Small inventors are the backbone of our economy; the SBA relies on small businesses to grow, and Congress and the USPTO must work all together to ensure they have the support they need to succeed.

• The SBA must defend its investments.
• Congress must reform harmful laws.
• The USPTO must ensure fairness and transparency.

If we act now, we can save innovation, protect small businesses, and keep America at the forefront of progress.

Conclusion: Protecting Small Business, Innovation, and America

The SBA, Congress, and the USPTO must act now. Small businesses and inventors don’t just drive innovation—they drive the American economy. If we let them fail, we all lose. 

The SBA has a unique opportunity to lead by collaborating with policymakers and organizations like US Inventor, Spark Innovation, and the Association for American Innovation. Together, they can work to fix a broken patent system that currently undermines innovation and favors large corporations. By aligning its mission with these reform efforts, the SBA can help restore fairness, protect small businesses, and ensure entrepreneurs like me—and countless others—have a fighting chance to recover, rebuild, and thrive. When the SBA invests in small businesses, it must also protect those investments. Releasing guarantors who have been victims of systemic patent abuse is not just a step toward fairness—it is a reaffirmation of the SBA’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. By working together, we can save innovation, empower small businesses, and ensure America remains a global leader in ingenuity and progress.