Policies

Technology Policy Supporting the Global App Economy

ACT works to ensure that technology policy supports innovation, competition and sustainable growth across the global app economy. We advocate on behalf of small and medium-sized technology companies, representing their interests in policy discussions that shape the connected technology ecosystem. Through engagement with policymakers, research and industry insight, we contribute to informed, balanced approaches to regulation that enable innovation while supporting consumer trust and long-term growth.

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Technology Policy by Location

Policy impact varies across regions. Explore how ACT engages with policy at a national and regional level, and find insights relevant to your location.

Technology Policy Areas

Our work spans a range of policy areas that impact the development, growth and success of technology companies.

Privacy and Online Security

Protecting children from privacy violations and harmful content online is the goal, but approaches that normalise identity collection or weaken end-to-end encryption increase surveillance and breach exposure. Startups and small tech companies handle millions of terabytes of data per day, putting them on the front lines of protecting and enabling responsible use of data. Robust security provisions, data protection, and privacy are in the interest of consumers and small tech companies alike. When regulatory or legislative proposals undermine security and trust, consumers and small businesses ultimately pay the price.

Intellectual Property

Technical standards power interoperability across artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT) ecosystems. Startups and small tech companies utilize these standards to compete and innovation across consumer and enterprise markets. But the abuse of patents within standards makes pricing, planning, and access to capital harder if not impossible. The requirement for fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing of standard-essential patents (SEP) to any willing licensee must be upheld. Startups and small tech companies drive innovation across the globe, but the obstruction and exploitation by a handful of SEP holding bad actors is stifling innovation.

  • European Union Must Counteract SME-hostile IP Practices With Its Own Rulebook

    It is vital that the EU counteract SME-hostile IP practices. In our latest submission to the DG Trade Targeted Consultation on the State of IP in Third Countries, the Association for Competitive Technology flags critical barriers impacting tech SMEs. ▪️ China: Security rules are pushing European tech companies to hand over their source code just to access the market. Foreign companies are also locked out of shaping the standards they are later required to follow. ▪️ Brazil: Patent lawsuits have exploded (from six cases in 2024 to 31 in 2025), with courts fast-tracking injunctions that can freeze a smaller company’s product out of the market before the underlying dispute is even resolved. ▪️ India: Significant uncertainty remains regarding the relationship between patent and competition law in SEP disputes under Indian law. Further, the country has still not implemented its obligations under the WIPO Copyright Treaty. We are asking the EU to push back on these practices and to finally put its own rulebook in place so it has credibility to do so.

  • ACT Urges Congress to Reclaim Oversight of USPTO’s PTAB Authority as Its Fee-Setting Authority Nears Expiration

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Morgan Reed, president of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), delivered testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet,…

  • Morgan Reed Testifies Before House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet

    I. Introduction We applaud the Subcommittee for holding this hearing on renewing the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (the Office’s or USPTO’s) statutory fee-setting authority. The Patent Act authorizes…

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a key element of innovation and competitiveness in the app economy. While many small developers have used AI and machine learning for years to look for bugs and to manipulate data, today the implementation models of AI are changing almost daily. Startups and small tech companies are at the forefront of this new AI revolution. As the regulatory landscape evolves, it is crucial to strike a balance between fostering innovation and protecting consumers and businesses from demonstrated harms. Policies must be crafted in a way that supports the diverse needs of the app economy, particularly the startups and small tech companies that rely on AI to compete and thrive in a dynamic market.

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