Patents – which help generate more than $8 trillion in economic activity each year in U.S. intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries – are critically important to incentivizing innovation and investment, growing America’s economy, and solving worldwide challenges such as climate change and pandemics. But patents only serve their intended purpose if they are robust and reliable.
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The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), the most significant patent legislation of the last 25 years, was enacted in 2011. Today we’re taking a moment to look back at one of the biggest changes the AIA made: the creation of new and efficient proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).
If you’ve ever helped cook a delicious Thanksgiving feast, you know just how much effort goes into the meal. From peeling spuds for a classic side dish, to getting the perfect roast on your chosen bird, to the dreaded clean-up duty after everyone has had their fill of pie, this celebration is made possible by hard work – and generations of inventors. The USPTO and Cade Museum have teamed up to explore Thanksgiving through innovation education.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The USPTO’s focus on inclusive innovation is to help lift up innovators, including the 29% of American adults with disabilities. Through our National Strategy for Inclusive Innovation, among other initiatives, we're working to make USPTO resources more accessible to people with disabilities.
The turn of the new millennium was a time of expansive change and great opportunity. With the digital revolution reaching across the globe, the majority of Americans now had a computer in their home. Rapidly developing technologies drove new sectors of innovation, as well as expanding opportunities for businesses small and large alike.
On behalf of the USPTO, I want to express our gratitude for your patience while we work to mitigate the effects of the CrowdStrike IT outage. This event has significantly affected millions of users globally, and thousands within our USPTO workforce.
Major Kayley Squire, an Air Force strategic policy fellow and the USPTO’s outgoing senior military advisor, spoke recently with Public Affairs Specialist Christy Whitaker about Squire’s Air Force fellowship with the USPTO and the role she played in enhancing the agency's military outreach initiative.