In this talk, FPRI's resident technology geek, Lawrence Husick, will examine the history of U.S. patent law, how it contributed to America's technological edge, and how the recent erosion of patent law places that that technological edge in jeopardy. He will conclude with a discussion of the implications for America's geopolitical position in the world.

Husick is Co-Chairman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Center for the Study of Terrorism where he concentrates on the study of terrorist tactics and counterterrorism strategies, with a particular focus on technology leverage as a defining characteristic of the modern terrorist. He is also co-director of the FPRI Wachman Center’s Program on Teaching Innovation and a faculty member at the Whiting Graduate School of Engineering and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Graduate Biotechnology Program of the Johns Hopkins University.