 Dear Inventors Eye readers,
We hope you have enjoyed and benefited from our content, which is intended to enlighten you about the many services offered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). We are committed to an interactive relationship with the rapidly increasing number of people who are discovering the crucial role of intellectual property (IP) in our lives.
To further this mission, the USPTO has begun a collaboration with Inventors Digest, the longest-running publication serving inventors and innovators. Each month, Inventors Digest features “Your USPTO” webpages that are devoted exclusively to USPTO content. This material highlights our latest programs, alerts you to upcoming events, and provides features that give illuminating context for the USPTO’s growing importance in America.
Since 1985, Inventors Digest has been a champion for the independent inventor and a source of instruction and inspiration. Its print and online readership is available to more than 200,000 readers every month. The magazine’s informative, entertaining, resources-filled website attracts thousands of visitors and page views.
Please join us at InventorsDigest.com for the latest USPTO news. For a complete list of all USPTO events, please visit the USPTO Events webpage.
Invention-Con 2021 reaches innovators, entrepreneurs, and students nationwide
Innovators, small business owners, IP lawyers, educators, and entrepreneurs from across the country tuned in online August 18–20 to the USPTO's virtual Invention-Con 2021. This year’s theme was “Capitalizing on your intellectual property,” and the event featured a special day focused on young inventors.
USPTO leadership, including Drew Hirshfeld, performing the functions and duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, Acting Commissioner for Patents Andrew I. Faile, Commissioner for Trademarks David S. Gooder, Deputy Commissioner for Patents Valencia Martin-Wallace, and Acting Chief Communications Officer Cara Duckworth welcomed attendees.
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 Innovation Outreach team ramps up programs
The USPTO's Office of Innovation Outreach (OIO) has ramped up its programming schedule for independent, underresourced, and underrepresented inventors and entrepreneurs.
OIO disseminates information about the various forms of IP and their importance in the innovation ecosystem with a focus on ensuring inventors have access to USPTO's products and services. OIO programs help budding inventors and entrepreneurs identify and acquire the IP protection they need to be successful in the marketplace.
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 Education team launches university engagement series, adds collectible card, conducts virtual National Summer Teacher Institute
The USPTO's Office of Education (OE) has ramped up its robust offerings with virtual teacher professional development, student-centered invention education programming, and university outreach events to increase dialogue around the topic of expanding innovation across all communities.
The new University Engagement Speaker Series highlights the importance of university-industry partnerships and the technological benefits they bring to the economy and society as a whole, including the role universities play in supporting K–12 education. The USPTO used the series to highlight the importance of broadening participation in the innovation ecosystem in accordance with the SUCCESS Act, and OE conducted more than 25 well-received programs as part of the growing effort to engage USPTO stakeholders.
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 Switch to DOCX filing coming January 1
As a part of the USPTO's continuous efforts to modernize and streamline patent application systems, the agency now offers applicants the ability to file patent application documents in DOCX format through EFS-Web, Private PAIR, and Patent Center. The USPTO will transition to DOCX for all filers on January 1, 2022. Use of any other format after that date will result in a surcharge.
DOCX is a safe and stable open source format supported by many popular word processing applications, including Microsoft Word 2007 and higher, Google Docs, Office Online, LibreOffice and Pages for Mac.
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U.S. Patents of the early industrial revolution
 The industrial revolution began in Great Britain in the late 18th century, with new devices such as the power loom and the spinning mule increasing output. Then, in the early 19th century, as industrialization spread to the United States and continental Europe and factories became more common, machines meant to speed up economic activity and industrial and agricultural production soon flooded the market. Here are five of the most important such inventions patented in the United States between 1794 and 1851.
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