Progress and Potential: A Profile of Women Inventors on U.S. Patents

Description

Colorado Technology Association (CTA) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Rocky Mountain Regional Office invite you to join us for a discussion on the status of female innovators. This discussion will be led by Laura A. Peter Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO. Only 72 U.S. patents were credited to women inventors between 1790 and 1859, while men obtained 32,362 patents (Khan, 1996). Even today, women comprise a small minority of patent inventors. This fact suggests that their innovative potential is underutilized. The number of patents with at least one woman inventor increased from about 7% in the 1980s to 21% by 2016. Despite this increase, the percentage of all patent inventors that are women, or the annual “women inventor rate,” reached only 12% in 2016. The USPTO recently released the Progress and Potential report, diving deeper into these issues and the opportunity ahead. 

We invite you to join us for this important discussion. Lunch will be provided.

Agenda:

12:30pm - 12:45 PM: Registration // Networking // Lunch 

12:45pm - 12:55 PM: Welcome Remarks - Frannie Matthews, President & CEO, CTA 

12:55pm - 1:00 PM: Introduction of Speaker - Molly Kocialski, Regional Director, USPTO

1:00pm - 1:30 PM: Fireside Chat with Laura A. Peter - Deputy Director, USPTO

1:30pm - 1:50 PM: Audience Q&A 

1:50pm - 1:55 PM: Closing Remarks - Molly Kocialski, Regional Director, USPTO 

2:00pm: Event End