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Nominations Sought for National Medal of Technology
and Innovation
The USPTO is seeking nominations for the 2017 National
Medal of Technology and Innovation. The medal is presented each year by the
President of the United States and is this country's highest award for
technological achievement.
The medal is awarded annually to individuals, teams (up
to four individuals), companies or divisions of companies for their outstanding
contributions to America's economic, environmental and social well-being. By
highlighting the national importance of technological innovation, the medal
also seeks to inspire future generations of Americans to prepare for and pursue
technical careers to keep America at the forefront of global technology and
economic leadership.
To learn more, read
the press release.
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Remarks by Director Michelle K. Lee at the
Trilateral Heads of Office and Industry Meeting
I’d like to cover two areas that I believe will be of
interest to you: (1) Our 2016 Performance and Accountability Report, which was
released earlier this year; and (2) Updates on our work on improving patent
quality. First, as to our patent filings, our utility, plant, and reissue
filings increased more than 5% in fiscal year 2016 to over 650,000
applications. This continues the trend in the United States of increasing
patent applications. In fact, it represents an almost 50% increase in the
number of applications that we received just 10 years ago (2006). Similarly,
our patent grants have shown a dramatic increase. We issued approximately
335,000 patents in 2016—almost double the amount that we issued 10 years ago
(2006 = 183,187).
At the same time, we continue to make great strides in
reducing the unexamined patent application inventory, decreasing it by almost
3% from last year and 29% from its peak in 2008. We’re also happy to report
that we continue to reduce our average total pendency from 26.6 months in
fiscal year 2015 to 25.3 months in fiscal year 2016. This pendency is down 22%
from just a few years ago (2012).
Read the remarks by
Director Michelle K. Lee.
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Spotlight
on Pam Isom, Director of the Office of Application Engineering and Development,
USPTO
As Director of the Office of
Application Engineering and Development (AED), I oversee all aspects of next
generation systems engineering, development and implementation at the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). I am also responsible for hiring,
budget formulation, planning and execution, and laying a foundation for the
retirement of legacy systems.
My office is large and our
initiatives are complex. As a result, we have frequent working sessions
(standups are not uncommon) where we break problems into manageable components,
brainstorm ideas and address. I value my team. Together we are building systems
that protect the nation’s intellectual property (IP) through the consistent
application of DevOps, user centered design, and advanced agile principles. We
have fun, succeed, make mistakes, learn, and get better.
Read the blog by
the Department of Commerce.
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Celebrating Women of Innovation
Women
inventors and scientists have made lasting contributions to our nation’s
history, but why is it that many people are unable to name one female inventor,
but can easily recall male inventors and scientists such as Thomas Edison
or Albert Einstein?
Take one woman
inventor for example. Actress Hedy Lamarr was best known for her work in
Hollywood during MGM's Golden Age, starring in such films as Ziegfeld Girl
(1941), White Cargo (1942), and Samson and Delilah (1949). But Lamarr also
worked with Hollywood composer George Antheil to invent and patent a frequency
hopping technique that today is referenced as an important development in the
field of wireless communications. Lamarr and Antheil's frequency hopping
reduced the risk of detection or jamming of radio-controlled torpedoes.
Read the blog by the Department of Commerce.
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2017 National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees
Announced
Recently, the
National Inventors Hall of Fame, in partnership with the USPTO, announced the
2017 National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees. These visionary inventors each
patented inventions that revolutionized their industries and changed people’s
lives. Of the fifteen new inductees, eight will be honored posthumously.
The criteria
for induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame requires candidates to
hold a U.S. patent that has contributed significantly to the nation's welfare
and the advancement of science and the useful arts.
This year’s
class of inductees includes Earl Dickson, inventor of the Band-Aid® Adhesive
Bandage, Augustine Sackatt, inventor of drywall, Marshall G. Jones, responsible
for laser welding aluminum to copper, and Carolyn Bertozzi, a pioneer in
DNA-cell conjugates. Read more about the inspiring work of all the
inductees.
Read the guest blog by Commissioner for Patents Drew Hirshfeld.
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Patent Public Advisory Committee Quarterly Meeting
Biotechnology/Chemical/Pharmaceutical
Customer Partnership Meeting
The USPTO held a Biotechnology,
Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Customer Partnership meeting on March 16 in
Alexandria, Virginia, in order to expand the USPTO’s long-standing partnership with
customers in these industry sectors across the country. These partnership
meetings provide an informal conduit for all stakeholders to share insights and
experiences to improve patent prosecution in biotechnology areas. We
highly value our customers’ feedback and individual participation in our efforts
to continuously improve the quality of our products and services.
To
learn more, view the agenda or watch the livestream.
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Patent Quality Chat – Training for the
Examination of High Quality Patents
On March 16, Deputy
Commissioner for Patent Quality Valencia Martin Wallace held the third Patent
Quality Chat in the 2017 webinar series on Training
for the Examination of High Quality Patents.
Presenters
from the Office of Patent Training, Gary Welch, Academy Class Manager, and Bao-Thuy Nguyen, Patent Training Advisor, discussed how the USPTO trains new
patent examiners and managers, provides refresher training to seasoned patent
examiners and managers, and informs practitioners. Participants had the
chance to ask the speakers questions about the training process, give feedback,
and suggest new ideas for training USPTO staff.
Patent Quality Chat is a monthly, lunchtime webinar series designed to provide
information on patent quality topics and gather public input. The next Patent Quality Chat will be held on April 11 and will discuss examination time analysis.
To learn
more about the March Patent Quality Chat, watch the archived video or view the presentation slides.
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