Posts Tagged: "ipo education foundation"

“Basic levels of physiological function should be a part of our human rights. Every person should have the right to live life without disability if they so choose.” These words came during a TED Talk given in March of this year by Dr. Hugh Herr, inventor of the BiOM® T2 System, the world’s first bionic foot and calf system and the 2014 Inventor of the Year being recognized by IPOEF. Dr. Herr’s story is one of incredible innovation in the face of a terrible struggle to regain the mobility he lost decades ago during a fateful rock climbing expedition.

This theme reemerged later when we talked generally about computer implemented innovations. Judge Linn explained that wrestling with patent eligibility as it applies to innovations that require machine intervention “is a very complex issue,” which is made more complicated when you try and rationalize opinions from the Supreme Court. “I have great difficulty rationalizing the Supreme Court’s opinions in Flook and Diehr, and in many regards I think those decisions are irreconcilably in conflict,” Judge Linn said… “I don’t look at it as a low point. I look at it as an indication of the complexity of the issues,” Linn said. He went on to explain that the Court was “trying to resolve this complex issue in a way that made sense but reflected the precedent we had before us from the Supreme Court. In the end we just couldn’t agree. We got to the point where we recognized that the Supreme Court would have to give us the answer.”

Last night at the National Portrait Gallery, which is the modern day site of the Old Patent Office Building, the IPO Educational Foundation awarded Dean Kamen the 40th National Inventor of the Year Award, and recognized Doug Henderson with the 6th Distinguished IP Professional Award. Also honored were the teenagers who won the 3rd IP Video Contest in three separate age categories. In attendance, however, was Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), who is the Junior Senator from Kamen’s home State of New Hampshire, who promised to carefully consider patent reform and pledged to listen to the concerns of innovators.

Nominations are due by May 15, 2013, and the winner (and the nominators) will be honored on Monday, December 10, 2012, in Washington, D.C. at a gala event. The purpose of the award is to increase public awareness of inventors and how they benefit the nation’s economy and our quality of life. To accomplish this goal the IPO Inventor of the Year Award recognizes the most outstanding recent inventor (or inventors in the case of joint invention). Thus, nominations are being solicited from independent inventors, as well as inventors employed in industry, universities, and government.

Four times over the past nine years the Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) Education Foundation has recognized inventors of green technologies as the Inventor of the Year. This trend is certainly not accidental given the growing interest in green technologies and the increased importance they will play as the global economy shifts from a carbon-based energy platform to more sustainable and environmentally friendly sources of energy. Will the IPO continue its recent trend and recognize a green innovation in 2013, making 5 out of the last 10 years a celebration of environmentally friendly technologies? That is at least in part up to the community. The IPO is currently looking for nominations for the 2013 Inventor of the Year Award, which will be handed out in a ceremony in Washington, DC, in December 2013. The nomination deadline is May 15, 2013.

On Monday, December 10, 2012, Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation will honor 39th Annual National Inventor of the Year Alex Kipman, 2012 Distinguished IP Professional Judge James Holderman, and the six winners of the Second Annual IP Video Contest, in a ceremony at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.

The Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation currently has a Call for Nominations for their 39th Annual Inventor of the Year Award. Nominations are due by April 16, 2012, and the winner (and the nominators) will be honored on Monday, December 10, 2012, in Washington, D.C. at a gala event. I have already nominated one inventor from a University client of ours, and I encourage everyone to nominate those you represent (or those you know) who have made an outstanding contribution to innovation. The purpose of the award is to increase public awareness of inventors and how they benefit the nation’s economy and our quality of life.

In a bit of a twist this year, the party nominating the National Inventor of the Year will also be recognized. Most nominations come from patent attorneys, so this is a great way for the IPO to recognize the team behind the inventor, as well as honoring the inventor. The nomination deadline is June 1, 2011, so now is your chance attorneys and agents to nominate those inventors you work with for their innovative contributions. I can’t think of a more worthwhile endeavor for our industry than to recognize remarkable innovators, so I encourage everyone to go through their client rosters and nominate those outstanding inventors who deserve recognition.

At lunch Director Kappos explained that the goal for fiscal year 2010, which ended on September 30, 2010, was to get the backlog down to 699,000 — dubbed “project 699.” The Office was not successful, but Kappos says they will get well below 700,000 for fiscal year 2011, perhaps as low as a backlog of 650,000. Kappos’ immediate follow-up: “I say that as Commissioner Stoll starts to choke at me saying that.” Indeed, there are ambitious goals at the USPTO for FY 2011, including a move to unity of invention.