Good morning, everyone.
And, you know, I want to thank Executive Assistant
Commissioner Highsmith, but I also I loved her energy.
I mean, especially at 930 in the morning.
And so I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to go after her.
And it can I have the same amount of energy as her.
So thank you so much for having me, having me here today.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office
refers to itself as America is Innovation Agency,
and we are honored and excited
for Customs and Border Protection to be hosting their Green Trade, Innovate
and Incentives Forum at the headquarters here
in Alexandria, Virginia.
Green Trade, Innovation and Incentivization is very important
to the USPTO, particularly for innovations and implementations that address
pressing environmental challenges like climate change
and my slides.
Are they going to be up here?
And I think we can go to the next one.
As many of you know,
the USPTO is the federal agency that grants patents
registered trademarks and advises the administration
through the Secretary of Commerce on intellectual property or IP policy.
Our strong IP system in the U.S.
has played a large part in making us one of the most innovative
and prosperous, prosperous countries in the world.
Protecting IP helps drive job creation,
economic development and prosperity, U.S.
competitiveness and national security.
Although IP rights are very country are largely country specific.
The USPTO supports a global community of stakeholders and customers
that include our federal agencies and other governments
and IP offices and firms and individuals seeking IP protection
or making decisions about innovation and competition.
For example, the USPTO works
closely with other IP offices and multilateral forums such as IP five,
which is the five largest IP offices in the world.
All members of IP five
have initiatives in climate space, in the climate space,
from expedited examination to formation of strategic partnerships.
Next slide, please.
So just to give you a little bit more information
about the USPTO at a glance, it is one of the 13 bureaus
within the Department of the Commerce, which has about 47,000 employees,
and over 13,000 of those employees work at the USPTO.
In addition to our main headquarters here in Alexandria, Virginia.
We have four regional offices in the Midwest, in Detroit,
in Texas, which is located in Dallas,
in the Rocky Mountain region, in Denver and Silicon Valley.
We have an office in San Jose, California, which covers the western region,
Alaska, Hawaii.
One of the things
that makes the USPTO unique is that we are self-funded
and we're self-funded through the fees that we collect
for our trademark and patent examination services, which represents a majority,
which also represents a majority of our employees.
That's the USPTO operates much like a business
with an adept management staff and $4.3 billion of annual budget.
We are dedicated to our customer users and proud to be one of the largest
repositories of knowledge of complex issues related to technical
and legal aspects of IP rights.
Can we go to the next slide, please?
So I just want to for those of you who might not be familiar,
just to give you a brief overview of what IP is,
and there are four main types of IP in the United States in case, you know,
people are familiar with the categories first patents.
And so I'm the commissioner for patents.
And so this is the main area that I focus on.
And what is a patent do It grants the right to exclude others from making,
using, offering for sale or selling an invention in the U.S.
or importing inventions
into the United States, thereby giving a patentee the opportunity
to reap greater rewards for its underlying invention.
And so we have the example here for an iPad
and iPod or, you know, your iPhone, your smartphone,
I think different numbers I looked it's like a thousand
patents can be on a single iPhone.
And so there are utility patterns which protect useful processes.
Machines, articles of manufacture and compositions of matter.
And we have design patents
which protect the ornamental design for article of manufacture.
So one of the things when you think of your smartphone,
does it have curved edges.
There's design patents on that.
We also have copyrights which incentivize the production of literary
or other artistic works by granting authors exclusive rights
to engage in commercialization and distribution of these works.
So when we think about beyond, say,
or we think about Taylor Swift and her musical rights,
or we think about computer software and there's copyrights associated with those,
we also have trade secrets
that consist of information such as formulas, patterns, copy lists,
compilations, programs, methods or techniques or processes
that are used in a business that provide an economic advantage.
So we all are very familiar with or we're not familiar with.
Coke's formula because no one knows it
except for a few, because they've kept it as a trade secret.
And then we have trademarks which advance the value of both patents and on pants.
An innovation and as well as reputation and goodwill
by identifying a good or services source of origin.
So we think about the actual the way that Coca-Cola
writes it’s letter or the Pillsbury Doughboy.
There are trademarks on that.
Moving on to the next slide
and we can go one more.
So now let's talk a little back
a little bit about the value of innovation and IP to address climate change.
One of the most pressing environmental issues today
is increasing threat of global climate change success.
Addressing climate change, climate related challenges
depend on technological development, and that, of course,
depends on robust incentives and protection for innovation and IP.
In our IP system drives innovation by providing incentives for organizations
and individuals to develop and pursue commercial opportunities
related to their tangible and intangible assets.
The USPTO Office of Chief Economist has studied
the industries that have been intensive users of IP protection and characterized
the IP intensive industries contributions to the total U.S.
economic output and employment.
As of 2019, for example, they found that U.S.
industries like manufacturing and I.T.
contributed $8 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product
and account for 44% of all U.S.
jobs, which is 63 million jobs.
They also found that IP incentive industries
generally pay higher wages and offer better benefits.
For example, workers in utility patent
intensive industries earned about 19,000.
Oh, that'd be nice.
1,900 per week in 2019,
which is 97% more than the average weekly
wage of workers in non IP intensive industries.
And the Federal Reserve governor and former USPTO Edison
fellow Lisa Cook concluded, If we could quadrupled
the number of inventors, we could increase the overall level of the U.S.
GDP by up to 4.4% or about $1 trillion.
And the USPTO and customers, Customs and Border Protection
are both taking actions
under the commitment of the Biden-Harris administration to support
game changing innovation in green and sustainable domains.
As part of the opportunity to realize our potential for economic growth,
The administration also recognizes
there are many emerging, emerging R&D areas that hope promise
to significantly impact progress to our net
zero economy by 2050.
These areas represent opportunities to create new economic growth
or to revolutionize existing fields like electronic power,
transportation and waste treatment.
The administration has provided
prioritize five areas, including net zero aviation,
industrial products and fuels for a net zero circular economy.
At a recent meeting of the International Trademark Association, my boss, USPTO
director Kathi Vidal, reflected that climate crisis is a priority
of both the Biden administration and the USPTO. Director Vidal stated,
When I think about priorities, I think we can all align on that one.
And I would like to share more about the USPTO and its commitments that it's made
that has made that commitment a reality.
If we can move to the next slide.
Thank you.
At the USPTO, we've
undertaken numerous initiatives designed to harness and make people
aware of the power of IP to tackle climate related matters.
So just last month climate change was prevalent agenda
when the USPTO hosted the IP5 in Hawaii.
As I said, stated, IP5 is the five leading
countries getting together to talk about IP issues.
And what was the theme of our meeting?
The theme was addressing climate change through an accessible
and inclusive IP system.
Also last year, the USPTO signed a memorandum of understanding with the World
Intellectual Property Organization, also known as WIPO’s Green Initiative.
WIPO Green is an online platform for Technology Exchange
that supports global efforts to address climate change by connecting providers
and seekers of environmentally friendly technologies
through its database network and events.
WIPO Green brings together key players
to catalyze green technology, innovation and diffusion.
WIPO is also
provided a definition of what green technologies are.
Green technologies in their definition are those that protect the environment,
are less polluting, use all resources in a more sustainable manner,
recycle more of their waste and products,
and handle residual waste in a more acceptable manner
than the technologies for which there they were substitutes.
These include know how procedures, goods and services and equipment,
as well as organization, organizational and managerial procedures.
This definition highlights the broad array of innovation and IP opportunities
around green technology and mitigating climate change.
The USPTO also operates to award competitions to recognize the value
of patents and trademarks and helping to solve environmental challenges.
First are Patents for Humanity program
that's been around since 2013,
and it recognizes innovators
who use game changing technology to address global humanitarian challenges.
In addition to receiving public recognition
for their work, winners are issued certificates entitling them
to expedited select proceedings at the USPTO.
This year, the award announced a specific green energy category to provide
business incentives for patent applicants, holders and licensees
whose inventions address climate change through green energy technologies.
And these examples of some of these green energy technologies include wind,
solar, green hydrogen,
green hydrogen, hydropower,
geothermal and biofuel technologies.
The submission deadline was extended to September 15, 2023.
So if you know anything related to that, please
think about telling people and spreading the word for patents
for humanity, green energy for the green energy category.
And in the past we've had
some of the recipients have included the SunPower Corporation, which invented
rechargeable lanterns as a safer, safer alternative to kerosene lamps
in Philippine villages and provided them via shipping containers
that convert into portable solar power energy stations.
Also new generator.
They created a state of the art membrane bioreactor technology
that can simultaneously recover nutrients, energy and water from
and water from wastewater.
And the USPTO just launched
the Trademark for Humanity Award program in April 2023,
So just a couple of months ago, to recognize brand owners
using their trademarks to help solve humanitarian challenges.
The 2000 awards cycle will specifically
recognize brand owners who improve the natural environment
through the products or services they offer or business practices
they use in connection with a federally registered trademark.
The USPTO will accept applicants
for this year's award until July 14th, just a couple of days
or until 200 applicants are receive whichever occurs first.
The USPTO is also adding green tech
related terms to the trademark ID manual, which catalogs
acceptable identification of
goods and services that may be used when filing through our trademark
electronic application system, which is known as TS Plus,
The new terms allow more trademark applicants who offer green technology
to file applications through TS plus and pay
a lower application fee.
And another really important initiative is that we're in the second year
of our USPTO Climate Change Mitigation Pilot program for Patent applicants.
This program was initially announced in June of 2022
and was expanded and extended into June of 22.
In June of 2023,
and we expanded the program to include innovations
in the economics and sector that are designed to make progress
towards achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
This includes innovations designed to remove
greenhouse gases already present in the atmosphere, reduce
or prevent additional greenhouse gases emissions, greenhouse gas emissions,
and or monitor, track or verify greenhouse gas emission
reductions, patent applications that qualify for this program.
So if you submit an application under this program,
your application is advanced out of term and we will be
one of the first examinations on the merits.
We currently have 400 petitions under this program
so far, including application like autonomous sea
going power replenishment, watercraft
to support battery powered marine vessels,
a vehicle fuel
cell coolant system
that uses liquid and liquid hydrogen storage as a thermal battery
in a stormwater capture housing system that reduces greenhouse
gas emissions related to solid waste collection.
The pallet scheduled to run through
July 7, 2027
or until we receive 4000 grant of all petitions, whichever occurs.
First, we think this program will encourage and incentivize innovation
in the climate space and in the example of the USPTO
commitment to tackling climate change.
We also sponsor just recently on
May 17th, the Green Energy Innovation Expo
here in our Alexandria campus.
The Expo was a unique opportunity to facilitate partnerships
between industry and reciprocal recipients of federal funding,
including laboratories and universities and startups,
and featured a wide array of green energy technologies
available for licensing, including green hydrogen,
solar technologies, energy storage, nuclear and wind energy.
The program featured a fireside chat
with the deputy secretary of the Department of Energy, David Turk.
A panel on Government Perspectives on Green Energy Technology,
featuring experts from the USPTO,
the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA and the Department of Energy.
There was a reverse pitch session where green energy
industry representatives had an opportunity to convey
to the audience their technology needs a panel discussion on energy,
green energy, licensing basics and a startup pitch competition
where eight federally funded startups had an opportunity to pitch
a judging panel of green energy investors.
As I mentioned previously, the USPTO is an agency
within the Department of Commerce, and it also includes NOAA,
one of the leading climate research and agencies in the federal government.
And we recently established a work sharing agreement with them with the goals
of a partnership to infuse new knowledge in both
for both agencies.
So the USPTO, we're helping NOAA
to develop and deliver IP education plan for its scientific workforce
so that NOAA's research and technology can better serve the public
and inspire future innovation across NOAA's mission.
In return, NOAA's sharing its technical
and insight with the USPTO examiners to give them additional context
when assessing patentability of inventions in the climate space, Noah is advising
the USPTO on green initiatives to help foster innovation in these critical areas.
So we look forward to continue collaboration and partnerships
with Noah and other agencies to expand and commercialize innovation.
The USPTO is also taking steps
with our internal operations to reduce our carbon footprint,
to allow for easier access to trademark certificates or streamline
the patent granting process.
So we're very proud of a wide
variety of award winning, award winning telework programs
for our 13,000 employees who work at all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
These programs have a huge positive environmental impact
by reducing thousands of tons of admissions
while reducing the cost of gas, parking commute time for our employees.
And the agency also saves tens of millions of dollars in real estate costs.
And we started beginning issuing electronic trademark certificates
in June of 2022 and electronic
patent grants in April of 2023.
These initiatives save paper and reduce emissions
associated with mailing hundreds and thousands of documents,
but it also saves our agency millions of dollars.
Recently,
in the first year, after installing 37,000 LED lamps,
the USPTO noticed this 4.7% decrease in our energy costs,
and we're currently have can
in the middle of our Campus Energy Audit, which determines
opportunities for onsite renewable energy generation and storage.
And then the USPTO diverted 50% of its waste
in the fiscal year of 2020 to including 245 tons,
which was converted to energy and
400 tons which was recycled.
Can we move to the next slide, please?
And one of the biggest challenges
that we face is making sure that our stakeholders and our customers
know about and use the programs initiative and efforts to ensure green trade
and climate change innovation is protected and innovate and incentivize.
So I want to quickly highlight a few of the many resources the USPTO
provides to users of the IP system through programs and outreach.
So I talked about the climate change mitigation Pilot program,
which I discussed earlier, about how if you file an application
under this program, you can get expedited review.
Please, If you know people
who have innovations in this area, we're talking
this is what this program is about is the innovation
to have people apply through this program.
And then we have our Council for Inclusive Innovation,
which also launched the first time
filer expedited examination pilot in March of 2023.
So these are also the first time you're filing your application.
You're an entity that's doing that.
You can get expedited application
application review.
And for people who are just novices in this area,
we have the intellectual property identifier tool, which helps users
identify what ideas they might that might be intellectual property
and helps them learn how to protect their IP.
And there's many other free services and resources listed
at our website, and the website link is provided below.
Can we move to the the last slide, please?
So I think everyone here today
understands that innovation can help us find the way
through our greatest challenges, which includes climate change.
Robust IP protection can help
turn those innovations into an economic asset
by helping consumers and the marketplace recognize and value
the goods and services that best address those challenges.
Additionally, the disclosures you make when participating in the patent system
and the brands you develop support, follow on innovation
and contribute to new ideas and the continuous progress of technology.
So I'd like to conclude today by asking you all to spread the word
about how the USPTO can support green innovation
and let your agencies, companies and firms know about our services
and alignment with green technology and climate change mitigation.
Finally, I'd like to say
thank you again to the Customs and Border Protection Office of Trade for hosting
today's forum on what is a very important topic to all of us.
Green Trade, Innovation and Incentives.
I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the forum and now I hand it
back to the Customs and Border Protection Director of Green Trade Lee Ann Bigelow.
Thank you.