The USPTO leadership indicated that the Hub supplements its other efforts to improve diversity within the patent process. These others efforts include holding events like “Invention-Con” and the “Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium;” continued assistance to pro se inventors; continuing its intellectual property (IP) pro-bono legal services through 60 participating law school clinics; and expanding the USPTO’s geographic reach by providing inventors with IP research assistance at USPTO headquarters, its 4 regional offices and 83 resources centers around the country.
The Hub and the other USPTO resources referenced are hopeful steps intended to address some of the challenges with the lack of diversity in innovation. As IP professionals, we should follow the USPTO’s lead and seek new opportunities to support and encourage innovation in women- and minority-owned businesses, assist them to identify venture capital (where applicable), and foster technology outreach to the next generation of women and minority innovators. We all have a part to play in efforts to increase diversity in the ranks of inventors, patentees and trademark registrants.
Read the full article on The National Law Review