Arnold Ventures under fire for weakening IP and patents

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John Arnold, the billionaire former executive and founder of Arnold Ventures, has come under fire for his funding of groups that promote censorship. According to reports, Arnold Ventures funded almost $14 million dollars toward left-wing censorship and disinformation groups.

Arnold was recently added to the board of directors at Meta, the parent company of Facebook. The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has faced Congressional scrutiny over his handling of censorship as it relates to the 2020 election. The organization, Arnold Ventures has attempted to position itself as bipartisan, but it has donated to multiple swing state Democrats just this cycle according to FEC data, including Sen. Bob Casey, Sen. Jon Tester, Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Sen. Jacky Rosen.

Now, sources on Capitol Hill are sounding the alarm on Arnold Ventures attempts to weaken patents and assault United States Intellectual Property.

An advisor to Republicans running for Senate stated, “John Arnold is George Soros. He is funding Democrats. It is that simple.”

An investigation into Arnold Ventures activity on patents and intellectual property discovered tens of millions of dollars dumped into patent reform, which critics claim is weakening innovation and intellectual property rights.

Since 2017, Arnold’s Network Has Spent Over $19.7 Million to Fund the Debate Over Patent Reform:

Since 2018, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation has provided grants totaling $1,904,000 to Patients for Affordable Drugs Inc. and Patients for Affordable Drugs Now. (“Laura and John Arnold Foundation,” Foundation Center)
Action Now Initiative has given Patients for Affordable Drugs and Patients for Affordable Drugs Action $15,133,000. (Patients for Affordable Drugs Action, FEC, 6/29/18; Patients for Affordable Drugs Action, FEC, 8/3/18; Patients for Affordable Drugs Action, FEC, 9/13/18; Patients for Affordable Drugs Action, FEC, 9/21/18; Patients for Affordable Drugs Action, FEC, 9/3/20; Patients for Affordable Drugs, 2017 IRS Form 990,ProPublica)
The Laura and John Arnold Foundation has provided $2,740,000 in funding to the Initiative for Medicines Access & Knowledge (I-MAK) since 2019. (“Laura and John Arnold Foundation,” Foundation Center)

With Arnold’s Backing, Patients for Affordable Drugs Has Run Ads Targeting Members of Congress and Partnered with AARP and I-MAK to Launch Campaigns to Lower Drug Prices.

In July 2023, Patients for Affordable Drugs, in partnership with AARP and leveraging I-MAK studies, launched “Push for Competition to Lower Drug Prices” with a press conference, alongside U.S. Senator Klobuchar, who also serves on the Judiciary Committee. (Celine Castronuovo,Twitter, 7/13/23; “Members,” S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary)

One senior official at the House Judiciary Committee argued that, “Arnold Ventures weakening the patent system would stifle U.S. innovation and make us less competitive with China.”

Another Republican aide on the Senate Judiciary Committee stated, “many Senators on our side of the aisle are starting to catch on to Arnold’s tricks. They claim to be bipartisan, but are funding left-wing causes, including crushing patents and weakening our competitiveness with the rest of the world. I would encourage Republicans to not use them as witnesses going forward at hearings.”