Issa Named Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) released the following statement on being named Chairman of the House Intellectual Property Subcommittee by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA):

 “I am thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to work with Chairman Goodlatte, the subcommittee’s new Vice Chairman Doug Collins (R-GA), Ranking Member Nadler (D-NY), and the other Members of the Subcommittee on a subject matter where I have great passion: patents, the Internet, and our nation’s framework for encouraging innovation.  As Subcommittee Chairman, my priorities include advancing a strong bipartisan bill to address abusive patent practices by ‘patent trolls’ which harm our economy’s real innovators and continuing needed oversight of the Patent & Trademark Office to ensure it is best prepared to address challenges for the 21^st century.  I’m looking forward to starting the new year and working on the laws that allowed me to have success in my business before I came to Congress and sparked my interest in public policy and service.”

Before coming to Congress in 2001, Rep. Issa served as CEO of California-based Directed Electronics, a company that Issa founded and built in the mid-1990s to become the nation’s largest manufacturer of vehicle anti-theft devices, including the highly-successful Viper system. In 1994, Issa was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine, Ernst & Young and The San Diego Union Tribune. During his leadership of Directed Electronics, Issa served as chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association, an organization of 2000 companies within the consumer technology industry that hosts the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. When he stepped down as CEO to serve as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Directed Electronics employed nearly 200 people. As the holder of 37 patents himself, Issa has long been vigilant about protecting the intellectual property rights of artists and other entrepreneurs to help protect America’s position at the forefront of innovation and creativity in the entertainment and technology industries.

In addition to the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Issa also announced that next Congress he will return to his previous assignment on the House Foreign Affairs Committee as his term as House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman concludes.