THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE S PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL INVENTORS HALL OF FAME

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1 Technology and Innovation, Vol. 19, pp , 2018 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. Copyright 2018 National Academy of Inventors. ISSN E-ISSN X THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE S PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL INVENTORS HALL OF FAME Philippa Olsen and Linda Hosler Office of the Chief Communications Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, Virginia, USA The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has partnered with the non-profit National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) since The USPTO and NIHF together run the museum located at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia; induct extraordinary inventors to the NIHF; and sponsor programs to encourage creativity, exploration, and inventiveness in people of all ages and backgrounds, including children, teachers, parents, college students, and independent inventors. Key words: Patents; Intellectual property; Education; USPTO USPTO PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL INVENTORS HALL OF FAME The United States Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) has partnered with the non-profit National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) since The USPTO and NIHF together run the museum located at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia; induct extraordinary inventors to the NIHF; and sponsor programs to encourage creativity, exploration, and inventiveness in people of all ages and backgrounds, including children, teachers, parents, college students, and independent inventors. STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP The USPTO is a founding partner of NIHF, which was established to raise awareness and to honor the individuals who conceived, patented, and advanced great technological achievements since the birth of our nation. NIHF has played a pivotal role in supporting the importance of a strong patent and trademark system and in recognizing the contributions of inventors and innovators whose patents have changed the world. This partnership is essential to furthering the USPTO s mission of disseminating information to Accepted: October 15, Address correspondence to Linda Hosler, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA. Linda.Hosler@uspto.gov 639

2 640 OLSEN & HOSLER the public regarding patents, trademarks, and the value of intellectual property (IP) protection, part of our significant commitment to education and outreach. This commitment also includes providing domestic education outreach at all levels, including programming specifically tailored to underserved and underrepresented audiences. By combining the resources of the USPTO and NIHF, the partners are able to better champion the value of inventions, children s education programs, teacher professional development, and annual inventor recognition events. NIHF offers a comprehensive education and inventor recognition program involving children, college students, and world-class innovators unlike any other program in the United States. Its national education network can be found in all 50 states and in more than 1,500 schools. NIHF PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS NIHF celebrates the visionaries whose inventions have changed our world; shares engaging stories of extraordinary inventors, the obstacles they overcome, and their relevance to our past, present, and future; and builds a community of inductees who spark the innovative mindset of future generations. NIHF inductees are active in all aspects of its programming program development and inspiration, curricula creation, program participation, and philanthropic support. The NIHF accepts inventor nominations from all sources, with the indispensable criterion for induction into the Hall of Fame requiring candidates to hold a U.S. patent that has contributed significantly to the nation s welfare and the advancement of science and useful arts. The NIHF induction ceremony where the world s foremost inventors are honored in a celebration highlighting their outstanding contributions to society is held annually in Washington, D.C. The NIHF Museum The NIHF Museum, located at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, features the inductees inventive legacies and is free and open to the public. The museum showcases the more than 500 inventors who have been inducted into NIHF and their great Figure inductee Victor Lawrence, who made a high-speed, global internet possible, adds his name to the Gallery of Icons during the Illumination Ceremony at the NIHF Museum in Alexandria.

3 USPTO AND NIHF PARTNERSHIP 641 technological achievements that helped stimulate growth for our nation and beyond. NIHF inspires the next generation of innovators by connecting them through stories of invention. The interactive gallery of icons allows you to discover how these innovators have shaped the world around us. The most recent inductees are featured in a special display where you can see prototypes of their inventions and hear them discuss their inventive processes. The exhibit Intellectual Property Power celebrates the story of IP and communicates its significance to progress, innovation, and culture. To illustrate how trademarks and patented material make modern amenities possible, this experience features installations from many major corporations and institutions: The Ford Motor Company: Take a seat in a one-of-a-kind ride a 1965 Ford Mustang merged with a 2015 Ford Mustang. You ll get a hands-on experience with Intellectual Property Power and see first-hand how patents fuel the evolution of technology. The George Eastman Museum: Get a full picture of the progression and development of the camera and interact with cultural touchstones of imaging history. Qualcomm: Plug into the story of Qualcomm s smartphone technology, powered by our patent system. Started decades ago with the aim of giving each person their own phone number, today these innovations enhance the lives of billions of people around the world. The museum also has exhibits that illuminate the history of patent examination and the job of patent examiners. Visitors can see how the USPTO and the process of patent examination have changed over the past 200 years and view patent models that were submitted to the office in the 1800s. Camp Invention Camp Invention, founded in 1990 by the USPTO in partnership with NIHF, is another important initiative. Inspired and informed by NIHF inductees, Camp Invention is a national summer enrichment program for children in grades K-6 that not only promotes creativity and inventive thinking through Figure 2. Students learn about the science of bubbles as part of Camp Invention at Hyattsville Elementary School, Maryland, Summer 2017.

4 642 OLSEN & HOSLER Figure 2. Graduate and undergraduate student winners of the 2015 Collegiate Inventors Competition on stage at the USPTO. hands-on STEM activities but also educates children with age-appropriate introductions to the workings of USPTO and teaches them the value of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and the American IP protection system. The program is taught in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico by local, certified teachers who receive professional development training. Camp Invention reaches 120,000 children in 1,500 schools nationwide each summer and exponentially more through teachers who report transferring Camp Invention strategies to their own classrooms. In 2017, 18,000 teachers and counselors participated in Camp Invention, each receiving on average 32.5 hours of professional development. Camp Invention develops an entirely new curriculum every year, allowing the program to provide a variety of different experiences for the many children who participate over multiple years. NIHF inductees help shape the curriculum, and it covers all fields of STEM. There is also a strong IP and entrepreneurial component to help students think about marketing and commercializing their inventions. Collegiate Inventors Competition Also founded in 1990, the Collegiate Inventors Competition encourages students innovative creativity, helping them break boundaries as they envision a better society. It promotes collegiate competition among the country s finest universities and connects the inventive spirit to entrepreneurship encouraging students to see the value of their ideas to our society, continue to develop their inventions, patent their work, seek investors, start businesses, and contribute to new economies. Entries to the competition represent disciplines as varied as medical devices, biotechnology, nanotechnology, renewable energy, robotics, and systems engineering. Finalists are determined through two tiers of judging. In the preliminary round, entries are reviewed by expert judges in the applicant s field of invention or research. The scores from the preliminary round help to determine the finalists who gather at the USPTO for an immersive judging and feedback experience with NIHF inductees and top officials from the USPTO.

5 USPTO AND NIHF PARTNERSHIP 643 The competition is marketed to faculty and students at over 1,000 colleges and universities and awards over $100,000 in prizes annually to first, second, and third prize winners in both the undergraduate and graduate categories. A large number of Collegiate Inventors Competition Finalists have gone on to start their own businesses, license their technologies through university technology transfer offices, and continue their research at the graduate and postdoctoral levels. FUTURE WORK The USPTO and the NIHF will continue their strong partnership in the future in order to encourage innovation for people of all ages and backgrounds. Future goals for Camp Invention include expanding scholarships for underserved audiences and increasing the scope by growing its preschool, after-school, and middle school programs. At the NIHF Museum in Alexandria, ongoing renovations and new exhibits are being planned, including a new trademark display, a veterans display, an updated USPTO patent history section, as well as the annual updates unveiled each May to recognize new inductees. NIHF also plans to increase its support for the USPTO s Patents for Humanity program, which recognizes innovators who use game-changing technology to meet global humanitarian challenges.