Need some good reading material? Here’s a quick recap of the top stories we loved diving into this month!
- “The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced yesterday a major initiative to “build a more diverse and inclusive innovation ecosystem by encouraging participation demographically, geographically, and economically.” – New USPTO Council Aims to Strengthen U.S. Innovation By Increasing Participation of Underrepresented Groups, IPWatchdog.com
- “Hinda Miller, Polly Smith, and Lisa Lindahl designed the sports bra to decrease discomfort for female runners. Since then, their invention has become a necessity for female athletes and a modern fashion staple. ” – Establishing the new fit, USPTO
- “Instead of focusing on the skills gap, we argue that it’s time to focus on closing the opportunity gap—[…] Investing more equally in our “lost Einsteins,” scholars have estimated, would likely quadruple the rate of innovation in the U.S.” – The labor market doesn’t have a ‘skills gap’—it has an opportunity gap, Brookings
- “For a trademark to be valid, the holder must sell goods using the image. But the authority said he had filed it in order to avoid using copyright laws, which are separate and would have required the famously elusive Bristolian artist to reveal his true identity.” – Banksy loses battle with greetings card firm over ‘flower bomber’ trademark, BBC News
- “The ruling protects the industry practice of developing a new song based on existing material, and then seeking a license from the original artist prior to release.” – Judge Rules in Favor of Nicki Minaj in Tracy Chapman Copyright Dispute, Variety
Some final tidbits: Exclusive report from Axios noted the creation of a new patent holder diversity coalition/marketing campaign; NSF awarded University of Arkansas innovation studies funding for low-income students; our partners at NFTE have launched a World Series of Innovation based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals
_________
The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property, an initiative of the Michelson 20MM Foundation, addresses critical gaps in intellectual property education to empower the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs. Michelson 20MM was founded thanks to the generous support of renowned spinal surgeon Dr. Gary K. Michelson and Alya Michelson. To learn more, visit 20mm.org.