Jaci McDole

Senior Policy Analyst
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @jacimcdole
Jaci McDole is a senior policy analyst covering intellectual property (IP) and innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). She focuses on IP and its correlations to global innovation and trade. McDole holds a double BA in Music Business and Radio-Television with a minor in Marketing, an MS in Education, and a JD with a specialization in intellectual property (Southern Illinois University Carbondale).
McDole comes to ITIF from the Institute for Intellectual Property Research, an organization she co-founded to study and further robust global IP policies. Her previous work includes stints with a small record label and a nonprofit royalty collective. Projects and collaborations include a study of the WHO Essential Medicines List, a report on closing the IP gender gap, updating the Trade Secret Protection Index, and various articles published as part of ITIF’s “Innovate4Health” series.
Research Areas:
Recent Publications
Postmortem on a Pyrrhic Victory for IP Foes at the WTO
The WTO’s approval of a TRIPS waiver for IP related to COVID-19 vaccines is essentially a shotgun blast completely missing the broadside of a barn.
Stealing Mickey Mouse: Tit for Tat Legislation Is Bad Policymaking
On May 10, 2022, Senator Josh Hawley introduced the Copyright Clause Restoration Act of 2022, a bill whose sole intent is to deprive Disney of copyright protections in retaliation for the company’s “woke” stance on social issues. This move is petty, unconstitutional, overall bad policymaking, and violates U.S. obligations under the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WCT). The Senate Judiciary Committee should let this bill die.
IP Is for Everyone: Celebrating World IP Day 2022
Although skeptics call IP an “elite concern,” recent reports from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), and the European Patent Office (EPO) show the positive impact IP has on small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), overall employment, and regionsal and global economies.
The COVID-19 TRIPS IPR Waiver Remains a (Bad) Solution Searching for a Problem
Global leaders should look to the facts rather than finalizing the tentative IP waiver agreement. The end is (hopefully) in sight. The world has the tools it needs; it just needs to solve the actual problem. Global efforts and resources would be better spent improving distributional infrastructure than solving an IP-related problem that simply doesn’t exist.
The SECRETS Act Adds a Critical New Defense Against IP Theft Threatening U.S. Tech Leadership
Acting against Chinese IP theft is a rare area of bipartisan support in U.S. trade policy, and the SECRETS Act provides a chance for U.S. policymakers and the Biden administration to take a stand against such parasitic practices by enacting a new law.
A Worker-Centric Trade Agenda Needs to Focus on Competitiveness, Including Robust IP Protections
In his shift to a “worker-centric trade agenda,” President Biden should reject the counsel of anticorporate, antitrade progressives who deny that U.S. companies’ interests align with U.S. workers’ interests. A new competitiveness-focused approach to trade policy can support both.
Music Compensation in the United States: Why the American Music Fairness Act Is Necessary
Most music is directly associated with the artists who perform the work—yet, under the current royalty system, these same musicians are not compensated when their music plays on terrestrial broadcast stations via AM/FM radio.
The Government in the Machine: Forcing Streaming Platforms to Prioritize Canadian Content Will Only Hurt, Not Help, Canadian Creators
Bill C-10 would classify streaming services, user-generated content sites, and similar services as “broadcasters,” providing the CRTC broad control over how these Internet-based services operate in Canada.
Ten Ways IP Has Enabled Innovations That Have Helped Sustain the World Through the Pandemic
From vaccines and therapeutics to delivery robots, intellectual property has played an indispensable role in facilitating development of a range of inventive products that have helped address health care, work, and social challenges brought on by the pandemic.
A COVID-19 TRIPS Waiver Makes No More Sense for Copyrights Than It Does for Patents
Intellectual property has proved to be indispensable in developing effective vaccines and therapeutics. Nevertheless, advocates have seized the moment to petition the WTO’s TRIPS Council not just to suspend patents, but also to reform national copyright laws governing digital access to knowledge, and data and text mining.
Innovate4Health Latin America: How Innovators Are Solving Global Health Challenges
Seven case studies showcase how IP rights are enabling innovators in Latin America to help solve some of the greatest global health challenges.
Recent Events and Presentations
IP Stories: Innovating for a Better Future (A World IP Day Event)
Please join ITIF, Geneva Network, Hudson Institute, the Center for Intellectual Property and Innovation Protection, Property Rights Alliance, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as we learn the stories of a few of the individuals and SMEs who rely on IP rights to innovate for a better future.
2021 Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance Annual Summit
The GTIPA’s annual summits bring together alliance members with world-leading experts to explore creative solutions to the difficult economic, trade, and innovation challenges facing the international community.
How Intellectual Property Has Played a Pivotal Role in the Global COVID-19 Response
ITIF hosted an expert panel discussion about the report and the vital role IP has played throughout the pandemic.
Intellectual Property's Impact on Global Health & Life-sciences Innovation
Stephen Ezell and Jaci McDole presented about Intellectual Property’s Impact on Global Health and Life-sciences Innovation to students at the University of Akron Law School on February 18, 2021.