This Week in Washington IP: Biden’s Budget Request for Clean Energy RD&D, Building the EV Industry’s Workforce, and a Conversation on Crypto with Senator Lummis

This week in Washington IP news, several subcommittees in the House of Representatives take a closer look at President Joe Biden’s budgetary request for the 2023 fiscal year, which was released in late March. On Friday, the House Research and Technology Subcommittee explores ways that the federal government can support the workforce needs of the growing electric vehicle industry. Elsewhere, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation discusses the findings of its most recent annual report on federal funding for clean energy RD&D, while the American Enterprise Institute hosts a conversation with Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) on the prospects of the U.S. federal government adopting a centralized cryptocurrency despite the recent crypto crash.

Tuesday, May 17

House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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

As the federal government’s lead agency on space exploration missions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plays an important role in funding and spurring forward the next generation of technological developments, many of which make an impact on our everyday lives. President Biden’s recent budgetary request to Congress for the 2023 fiscal year includes $26 billion in funding earmarked for NASA, including $7.6 billion to support deep space exploration and the Artemis program. The sole witness for this hearing will be the Honorable Bill Nelson, Administrator, NASA.

Senate Subcommittee on Defense

A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Request and Budget Justification for the Air Force and Space Force

At 10:00 AM on Tuesday in 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force are the two branches of the military tasked with defending American air space and carrying out airborne military operations. President Biden’s 2023 fiscal year budgetary request would provide $194 billion in funding for both the Air Force and Space Force, which would primarily be spent on developing next-generation aircraft and improving missile warning and tracking systems. The witness panel for this hearing will include the Honorable Frank Kendall, Secretary, U.S. Air Force; General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force; and General John W. Raymond, Chief of Space Operations.

Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

Further Energizing Innovation: Federal Energy RD&D in FY23 and Beyond

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

The 2023 fiscal year budgetary request issued by the Biden Administration to Congress in late March includes $15 billion that would be dedicated to funding efforts to support clean energy technology, including $12 billion to fund research and development in clean energy tech and another $3 billion to support deployment of those technologies. These figures represent a 32 percent increase to clean energy funding from fiscal year 2021. This event will feature a keynote address from Kathleen Hogan, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Infrastructure, U.S. Department of Energy. The event will also feature a presentation of the latest annual report from ITIF’s Center for Clean Energy Innovation on the federal research, design & development (RD&D) budget by Hoyu Chong, Senior Policy Analyst, ITIF. Following that presentation will be a discussion with a panel including Robin Millican, Director, U.S. Policy and Advocacy, Breakthrough Energy; Dan Byers, Vice President, Climate and Technology, Global Energy Institute; and moderated by David M. Hart, Senior Fellow, ITIF.

House Committee on Science, Space and Technology 

Full Committee Markup

At 12:15 PM on Tuesday in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building.

On Tuesday afternoon, the full House Science Committee will convene a legislative markup session to discuss possible amendments to a series of bills including H.R. 7289, the Federal PFAS Research Evaluation Act, which would direct the National Academies to develop a research agenda to advance understanding of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); H.R. 7180, the Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID-19 Cognitive Research Act, which would provide grants for research on the disruption of regular cognitive processes associated with COVID-19; H.R. 7569, the Energy Cybersecurity University Leadership Act, which would direct the U.S. Secretary of Energy to establish a program providing financial assistance to postdoctoral researchers and graduate students pursuing courses of study related to cybersecurity and energy infrastructure; and H.R. 7361, the National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act, which would direct the National Weather Service to upgrade its communication service by implementing a commercial off-the-shelf cloud communications option.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2022, Part One: Find Pathways to Breakthroughs

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

This USPTO event will feature stories of business success from members of the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities who leveraged innovative ideas and technologies into profitable business ventures. This event will feature a fireside chat on how innovative thinking leads to innovative results between Dr. Gurtej Sandhu, Senior Fellow and Vice President, Micron Technology, and inventor named on more than 1,300 patents; and Andrew Wang, Assistant Commissioner for Patents, USPTO. Following that chat will be a panel discussion on pathways to ground-breaking discoveries with Dr. Ritu Raman, d’Arbeloff Assistant Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Jun Ye, Ph.D., Professor Adjoint at the University of Colorado Department of Physics, JILA Fellow, National Institute of Standards and Technology Fellow, and National Academy of Sciences Member; and moderated by Seema Rao, Supervisory Patent Examiner, Technology Center 2100, USPTO.

American Enterprise Institute

A Conversation With Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY): Regulation and the Future of Crypto Assets

At 3:30 PM on Tuesday, online video webinar.

After a few years of positive momentum leading many institutional investors to think more seriously about investing in cryptocurrencies, the crypto crash late last week has inserted a great deal of uncertainty into the sector. It remains to be seen how the crypto crash will affect efforts by U.S. financial regulators to establish a central bank digital cryptocurrency (CBDC) for U.S. consumers. This event will feature a discussion on the possibility that the U.S. federal government adopts a CBDC with Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY); and Paul H. Kupiec, Senior Fellow, AEI. Following that conversation will be a discussion with a panel including Caitlin Long, Founder, Custodia Bank; Oonagh McDonald, Senior Advisor, Crito Capital; Thomas P. Vartanian, Executive Director, Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center; and moderated by Kupiec.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Blockchain & IP: Introduction to Blockchain & IP

At 4:00 PM on Tuesday, online video webinar.

This USPTO workshop about the intersection of blockchain and intellectual property will feature a presentation by Jerry Ma, Director of Emerging Technologies, USPTO. Topics covered during this workshop include origination conditions, double spend, as well as private and public keys.

Wednesday, May 18

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Utah Listening Session With Director Kathi Vidal

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

This virtual listening session is one of a series of events with the USPTO’s recently confirmed Director Kathi Vidal and stakeholders operating within the U.S. intellectual property system are encouraged to attend and voice their views on key issues impacting their businesses.

Friday, May 20

House Subcommittee on Research and Technology

Building a Workforce to Navigate the Electric Vehicle Future

At 10:00 AM on Friday in Oakland County Commission Chambers, 1200 Court Tower Blvd., Pontiac, MI 48341.

The development of the electric vehicle (EV) industry is expected to bring a great number of jobs to cities across America. This March, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Roosevelt Project released a study forecasting the creation of 3.1 million new jobs in the EV industry within the next 30 years just in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. In late April, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced that $2.5 million in federal funding for EV infrastructure and workforce training was secured in the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus appropriations bill. The witness panel for this hearing will include Marcia Black-Watson, Industry Engagement Division Administrator, Workforce Development, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity; Robert Bollinger, Chief Executive Officer, Bollinger Motors; Jennifer Mefford, National Co-Chair, Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program; Benigno “Ben” Cruz, Director, Center for Advanced Automotive Technology, Macomb Community College; and Josh Nassar, Legislative Director, United Auto Workers.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

PTAB LEAP: AIA Oral Argument Encore 

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

This workshop on presenting oral arguments in America Invents Act (AIA) patent validity trials conducted at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is presented by the PTAB’s Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP). Practitioners presenting mock AIA trial arguments before a panel of administrative patent judges will include Erika Harmon Arner, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP; Gene W. Lee, Perkins Coie LLP; Megan R. Raymond, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; and John D. Vanderberg, Klarquist Sparkman LLP.

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