On October 31, 2018, the United States Congress enacted a law directing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to study and report to Congress on the number of patents applied for and obtained: (1) by women, minorities, and veterans; and (2) by small businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans. (SUCCESS stands for Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science – a copy of the law can be found HERE)
On Tuesday, June 18, 2019, Burris Law will be participating in and providing public testimony in a hearing at the Midwest Regional USPTO in Detroit, Michigan. The hearing is open to the public and details about registration can be found HERE.
Initial findings of the USPTO on the first study of women inventors shows that while women made up 28% of the total science and engineering workforce in 2015, the inventorship rate was only at 12%. Interestingly, the workforce participation rate in engineering is on par with the overall women inventor rate. A copy of the report published in February 2019 can be found HERE.
We are looking forward to an engaging and enlightening discussion at the public hearing next week.