Reforming America’s patent system will accelerate economic growth and job creation, and expand America’s ability to innovate, according to a new report released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The paper, titled “Patent Reform—Unleashing Innovation, Promoting Economic Growth and Producing High-Paying Jobs,” was authored by the Commerce Department’s Chief Economist Mark Doms, the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Chief Economist Stuart Graham and USPTO’s Administrator for External Affairs Arti Rai.

Washington, DC (Jan. 25)—The Commerce Department’s Economics and Statistics Administration issued a new report for Vice President Biden’s Middle Class Task Force: Middle Class in America. The report, which identifies what it means to be middle class in America today, uses a host of measures to show that it is more difficult today to both attain and maintain a middle-class lifestyle than it was two decades ago. “This report highlights the gravity of the economic realities facing American families aspiring to a middle-class lifestyle," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. (More) (Report—PDF)