This Week in Washington IP: Tech Policy After the Election, Competing with China’s Growing Tech Dominance, and the New Race for Space

This week in Washington IP events, both houses of Congress are largely quiet as the House and Senate enter scheduled work periods this month. Among policy institutes focused on technology and IP-related subjects, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation explores the coming decade of battles for tech dominance between China and the West, while both the Heritage Foundation and Center for Strategic & International Studies turn their focus this week to the space industry, a sector where the United States is working to regain its former dominance. The USPTO will also host virtual events this week, including a networking event for innovation professionals in the Hispanic community.

Tuesday, October 6 

New America

Decentralized Alternatives to Big Tech

At 12:00 PM on Tuesday, online video webinar.

The promise of the Internet is that digital communications are supposed to benefit a wide swath of the global population through instant access to valuable information. Centralized online platforms have proven to be very powerful models, but some technological developers have created alternative Internet platform models with stronger mechanisms for data privacy and community empowerment. This event, hosted by New America’s Open Technology Institute, will feature a discussion with Paul Frazee, Founder, Beaker Browser; Amandine Le Pepe, COO & Co-Founder, Element and Matrix Communications Protocol; Eileen Wagner, Program Manager, Simply Secure; Karissa McKelvey, Research Fellow, Simply Secure; and moderated by Ross Schulman, Senior Policy Technologist & Senior Counsel, New America’s Open Technology Institute.

The Brookings Institution 

What to Expect on Tech Policy in the Next Presidential Administration

At 2:00 PM on Tuesday, online video webinar.

Much of the mainstream media’s focus during the current Presidential election season has been on systemic inequalities and the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the election this November will also decide the near future of policy decisions affecting America’s tech sector. While the administration of President Donald Trump has featured a great deal of tech protectionism in the form of the trade war with China and the recent ban of TikTok for national security concerns, the potential of a Biden-Harris ticket winning the U.S. electoral college could swiftly shift the underlying attitudes shaping domestic and international tech policies. This event, hosted by Brookings’ Center for Technology Innovation, features a discussion with a panel including Bill Baer, Visiting Fellow, Governance Studies; Alex Engler, Rubenstein Fellow, Governance Studies; Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, and Director, Center for Technology Innovation; and moderated by Alexandra Levine, Technology Reporter, Politico.

Wednesday, October 7

The Hudson Institute

Project Convergence: A Conversation with U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy

At 9:00 AM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

The U.S. Army is currently undergoing a major modernization effort and Project Convergence is a military technology program designed to better incorporate many emerging areas of military technological advancement in artificial intelligence and stealth tech into U.S. warfighting capabilities. This event, which will explore the Army’s current progress on modernization and how a more technologically advanced military can deter aggression from foreign rivals, will feature a discussion between Ryan D. McCarthy, Secretary of the Army; and Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow & Director, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.

The Heritage Foundation

The New Race for Space: Success and Challenges in the Final Frontier

At 10:00 AM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

The United States’ dominance in space exploration has lagged over the past decade since the space shuttle program was retired by NASA in 2012, but recent years have featured a renewed effort to return the U.S. to international dominance in manned space exploration as well as warfighting capabilities in low Earth orbit space. The private sector has also spurred a lot of activity in the space sector and U.S. commercial spaceflight launches in 2020 are expected to double the number of those launches made from U.S. soil last year. This event will feature a keynote address from Justin Johnson, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. This address will be followed by a discussion with a panel including Dean Cheng, Senior Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center; Michael Gold, Acting Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations, NASA; Henry Hertzfeld, Research Professor and Director, Space Policy Institute, GW Elliott School of International Affairs, Adjunct Professor of Law, GW Law School; and hosted by John Venable, Senior Research Fellow for Defense Policy.

The Stimson Center

Leading the Blueprint: International Perspectives on Blockchain for Nuclear Security

At 11:30 AM on Sunday, online video webinar.

Nuclear energy is a field of technology that requires robust safeguards to ensure that nuclear energy generation remains secure, both in terms of protecting local populations as well as ensuring that nuclear technologies don’t fall into the wrong hands. Distributed ledger technologies, or the blockchain, are seeing growing applications in the nuclear sector for improving information security and protecting the supply chain in the nuclear sector. Speakers at this event include Cindy Vestergaard, Senior Fellow and Director, Nuclear Safeguards and Blockchain in Practice Programs; Lovely Umayam, Nonresident Fellow, Blockchain in Practice, Stimson Center; Elina Martikka, Head of International Cooperation, STUK (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland); Jasmine Auda, Deputy Managing Director, Middle East Scientific Institute for Security; Kim Anderson, President and Founder, inQ; Brenan Isabelle, Director, Enterprise Solutions, OARO; and Verónica Venturini, Blockchain Architect, National Atomic Energy Commission.

Information Technology & Innovation Foundation 

How Can America and the West Successfully Compete With China

At 12:00 PM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

The next ten years figure to be an incredibly important decade in international trade. China is still home to the largest market for many consumer goods and technologies, but national security concerns raised by the United States and many European countries are certain to turn the coming years into a battle for dominance in several tech sectors. This event, which will discuss the findings of a recent ITIF report on rebalancing global supply chains, features a presentation by David Moschella, Research Fellow, Leading Edge Forum. A discussion at this event will feature a panel including Craig Allen, President, US-China Business Council; James McGregor, Greater China Chairman, APCO; and moderated by Robert D. Atkinson, President, ITIF.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Hispanic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program 

At 1:00 PM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

The USPTO’s Hispanic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program is designed to enable professionals from the Hispanic community, including entrepreneurs, inventors and IP professionals, to network and discover various resources helpful to grow their business. The keynote speaker at this event will be Roselin Rosario-Meléndez, Ph.D, Polymer and Cosmetics Chemist, Associate Principal Chemist, L’Oréal. Following her address will be a discussion on service and support organizations serving Hispanic inventors and entrepreneurs with a panel including Lu Cordova, Governor’s Advisor on Efficiencies and Digital Transformation, State of Colorado; James Foy, Founder, Hispanics and Technology; Oscar Garcia, Managing Director of Training, Manos Accelerator; Sandi Mays, CIO, CXO and Co-Founder, Zayo Group; and Nicole Quiroga, President and CEO, Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Following this discussion will be a USPTO resource overview presentation offered by Sean Wilkerson, Innovation Development Program Manager, Office of Innovation Outreach, USPTO; and Matthew Martin, Pro Bono Assistant Coordinator, USPTO.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 

Meet the Trademark Experts

At 1:30 PM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

This virtual event, coordinated by the USPTO’s Trademark Assistance Center, features presentations covering the agency’s Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), the Identification of Goods and Services Manual and steps to take to maintain federally registered trademarks.

Thursday, October 8

Center for Strategic & International Studies

Digital Currency, Cross-Border Payments, and the International Monetary System

At 8:00 AM on Thursday, online video webinar.

Advances in fintech have democratized payment platforms in ways that improve peer-to-peer digital and cross-border payments but those advances have also threatened traditional banking institutions by reimagining the global financial infrastructure. This event, hosted by the CSIS Economics Program in partnership with the OMFIF Digital Monetary Institute, will feature a keynote armchair discussion with Brent J. McIntosh, Under Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Kenji Okamura, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Japan; and moderated by Stephanie Segal, Senior Fellow, Economics Program, CSIS. Following this will be a panel discussion on digital currency technologies and opportunities for the financial sector with a panel including Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli, Division Chief of Payments, Currencies and Infrastructure, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, International Monetary Fund; Neha Narula, Director, Digital Currency Initiative, MIT Media Lab; Naveed Sultan, Global Head of Treasury & Trade Solutions Group, Citigroup; and moderated by Phillip Middleton, Chairman, OMFIF Digital Monetary Institute.

Friday, October 9

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The Path to a Patent, Part II: Patent Searching

At 12:00 PM on Friday, online video webinar.

Conducting a prior art search is a crucial step before filing a patent application to ensure that a claimed invention faces as few issues during prosecution at the USPTO as possible. This event will cover the use of keywords in prior art searches, the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) and how to create a strategy for prior art searches.

Center for Strategic & International Studies 

Leading Rapid Technological Change in the Space Community: Perspectives of the Women in Charge

At 1:30 PM on Friday, online video webinar.

Recent years have seen remarkable growth in America’s space industry across the private, national security and civil space sectors. Much of the recent technological change spurring this activity is owing to the contribution of women scientists who, despite the fact that they account for only 20 percent of U.S. doctoral engineering degrees, have had an outsized impact in advancing space technologies. This event, being hosted by CSIS to commemorate World Space Week, will feature a discussion with a panel including Mandy Vaughn, President, VOX Space; Dr. Ellen Stofan, John and Adrienne Mars Director, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum; Dr. Claire Leon, Graduate Program Director, Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, Loyola Marymount University; and Morgan Dwyer, Fellow, International Security Program and Deputy Director for Policy Analysis, Defense-Industrial Intiatives Group.

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2 comments so far.

  • [Avatar for entrepreneurs]
    entrepreneurs
    December 26, 2020 02:33 am

    Millennials plan to be entrepreneurs. But administration policies prohibit their ability to get started on their unique
    companies and recognize their entrepreneurial hopes and dreams.

  • [Avatar for Pro Say]
    Pro Say
    October 5, 2020 09:19 pm

    “How Can America and the West Successfully Compete With China”

    Easy as Congress:

    1. Abrogating eBay.
    2. Abrogating Mayo.
    3. Abrogating Alice.
    4. Dissolving the unconstitutional PTAB death squad.
    5. Restoring patent eligibility to all areas of innovation; without adding onerous new patentability requirements.

    And to think that all this can be accomplished with just one bill.

    Just. One. Bill.

    Congress? Does restoring American innovation leadership matter to you?