That strengthening is specific to protection

With current estimated annual losses of 250,000 jobs and $ 80 billion in revenue to domestic and international intellectual property piracy, increasing effective intellectual property protection became a [*247] mandate. 44 Furthermore, a cry of economic necessity arose to increase the incentive to invest, especially to invest in the long, costly, and uncertain process of innovation. 45 Eventually, economic planners realized that the American patent system had always been designed to, and was inherently capable of, accomplishing both these objectives. 46 In a rare display of cooperation, all three branches of the United States Government commenced along a path toward increased intellectual property protection through the strengthening of patent rights. 47