In a world increasingly defined by technological leaps and global competition, both India and the United States find themselves at pivotal crossroads in their pursuit of innovation leadership. On September 4, 2025, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini took the stage in Gurugram to announce a raft of ambitious measures aimed at propelling the northern Indian state into the global spotlight as a startup and technology powerhouse. Just a day later, on September 5, former U.S. lawmakers Patrick Leahy and Bob Goodlatte published a pointed opinion piece in Newsweek warning that the United States risks ceding its innovation edge due to systemic flaws in its patent system. The two stories, though separated by continents and context, converge on a critical question: how can nations best foster, protect, and capitalize on innovation in an era where technological prowess is the ultimate currency?
At the “Interaction with Startups and Industry Leaders” event in Gurgaon, Chief Minister Saini unveiled the H-HUB, a world-class incubator developed in collaboration with startups, corporates, and educational institutions. The facility is set to feature plug-and-play workspaces, meeting rooms, high-performance computing resources, and specialized innovation labs. "The incubator will also house prototyping centres to support product development, enabling Haryana's startups to undertake cutting-edge research and development," Saini told the assembled audience, as reported by The Times of India.
But the H-HUB is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. The Haryana government is currently formulating a dedicated policy to promote semiconductor manufacturing, a move that dovetails with India’s broader ambition to become a global semiconductor hub. Saini emphasized that the state aims to position Gurgaon and Haryana as the Global Capability Center (GCC) capital of the world, with a special policy for GCCs also in the works. The 2025–26 State Budget allocates funds for the development of 10 new Industrial Model Townships (IMTs) across Haryana, each equipped with advanced industrial and startup infrastructure. To support these initiatives, landowners have voluntarily offered approximately 20,000 acres via the e-Bhoomi portal—a testament to the local appetite for development and innovation.
“We invite investors to establish industries in these IMTs, assuring that the government will provide all necessary facilities under one roof to support their growth and operations,” Saini declared. Haryana currently ranks seventh in India for the number of startups, boasting over 9,100 recognized ventures, including 19 unicorns, with women entrepreneurs at the helm of half of these enterprises. The state’s vision is clear: extend the recognition and resources enjoyed by Fortune 500 companies to the next generation of Indian startups.
To further reinforce the startup ecosystem, incubation centres will be established in every industrial estate across Haryana, providing local access to mentorship, resources, and networking opportunities. State-of-the-art AI hubs are being developed in Gurugram and Panchkula to nurture AI-based startups and research, while the newly established "Department of Future" will focus on driving the adoption of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, and deep-tech. Saini also announced that, in collaboration with NITI Aayog, Haryana will set up a state chapter of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform, giving women entrepreneurs access to more than 200 mentors, sector-specific training, financial assistance, market access, and incubation support.
To facilitate investment, the government is introducing a mechanism to verify private land ownership, zoning, and business parameters in a time-bound manner. A dedicated Commission will institutionalize entrepreneurship and coordinate policy-making, while centres of excellence are being established in every district under a public-private partnership model to promote innovation and skill development. Financial assistance of Rs 1.14 crore was recently provided to 22 startups, and competitions with prize money of up to Rs 1 crore and microfinance support are being organized to spur entrepreneurial activity.
While Haryana invests in the future with bold infrastructure and policy moves, leaders in the United States are sounding the alarm about vulnerabilities in the very foundation of American innovation: its patent system. According to an opinion piece by Patrick Leahy and Bob Goodlatte in Newsweek, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been plagued by “persistent examination and quality challenges,” as highlighted by a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The GAO found that the USPTO places “greater emphasis on meeting output goals for the number of applications reviewed over issuing quality patents.”
The consequences of this approach are far-reaching. More than half of all patents granted by the USPTO are issued to entities outside the United States, with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei receiving over 3,000 U.S. patents last year—ranking fifth globally. Leahy and Goodlatte warn that low-quality patents, which may not meet the standards of novelty or non-obviousness, can “impose significant costs on society” by reducing competition, raising costs, and enabling legal abuses that stifle innovation. Patent examiners, they argue, are often overloaded and pressured to prioritize quantity over quality, leading to less thorough reviews.
“Low-quality patents are weaponized by foreign competitors and patent trolls to initiate meritless lawsuits against American innovators, increasing costs and slowing product development,” the authors write. Shell companies, often backed by overseas hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds, use these patents to pursue litigation and gain access to confidential information from U.S. companies. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) offers a more efficient, reliable, and less costly process for challenging dubious patents, but recent changes in USPTO leadership have limited the PTAB’s ability to re-review patents, which, as Leahy and Goodlatte note, “enriches foreign-backed trolls at the expense of U.S. innovation leadership.”
The authors call for a “patent quality reset,” urging that patent examiners be given the time and tools necessary for accurate determinations and that USPTO leadership prioritize quality alongside speed. “If the U.S. wants to remain at the forefront of emerging technologies, addressing our patent quality vulnerability is essential,” they conclude.
Both Haryana’s forward-looking policies and the U.S. debate over patent quality underscore a shared global truth: the race for innovation is not just about who invents first, but who builds the strongest, most resilient ecosystem for nurturing and protecting those inventions. Whether through infrastructural investments, supportive policies, or robust legal frameworks, the future will belong to those who get the fundamentals of innovation right—and act before the opportunity slips away.
