Three Edison Visiting Scholars at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and a panel of researchers made presentations at a June 16, 2015, Hoover Institution–USPTO joint symposium in Washington, DC, that addressed the academy’s role is in evidence-based policy making for intellectual property. Part of the Hoover project on Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Prosperity (Hoover IP²), the symposium was sparked by the ongoing debate in Washington over the impact the US patent system has on innovation and trade and whether widespread reform of the patent system is necessary.