An IP Network of Networks: True to its goal, the USIPA has brought together organizations across the IP ecosystem in a way that has never been done before, helping them create value for their own constituencies through the interaction and cross-pollination of ideas. You can see some of the various organizations represented here, including WIPO, USPTO, US Copyright Office, AIPLA, AUTM, Black Inventors Hall of Fame, CIPU, Copyright Alliance, IPO, LES, NAI, National Inventor Hall of Fame, Recording Industry Association of America, US Chamber, UIA and US Inventors for Jobs. 

Helped to launch the Corporate Patent Diversity Pledge: The USIPA D&I Committee, under the leadership of Suzanne Harrison and Allen Lo, in partnership with Bo Heiden of the UC Berkley Fung Institute hosted the Increasing DII Conference in July 2021. 50+ corporations have signed the Pledge, and it was also launched in Europe in December 2021. If you want your corporation to sign the pledge, you can find more information here. You can also see the press release by USIPA and UC Berkeley here.

Consolidation of IP Education Resources: USIPA Board members Joyce Ward and Stephanie Couch lead the USIPA K-12 Education committee and Bo Heiden and (previously) Jelani Odlum lead the University Education committee. Over the course of 2021, these two committees consolidated publicly available education resources in one place, so anyone with an interest in Intellectual IP can access them. The committees are currently in the process of further curating the content.

First Ever Nationwide IP survey: The USIPA Awareness committee under Bruce Berman and Elizabeth Dougherty launched the first ever US wide citizen survey to understand attitudes about IP. The survey data was collected over the 4Q 2021 and is being analyzed for further action. Sincere thanks to Sander Biehn, Barry Brager, Patrick Kilbride, Jim Pooley, Warren Tuttle, Mike Waring and Sam Zellner, and our sponsors AT&T, Sander Biehn, Center for IP Understanding, Scott Frank, Josh Malone and Warren Tuttle for supporting the survey. Many thanks also to Fred Barber and his team at The Decision Company for their work on this effort.

Enabler Directory: Corporations, venture capitalists, universities and other entities fund research that creates Intellectual Property, helping inventors who create the next best idea bring it to the market. The USIPA is investigating a directory of these organizations so creators can access their resources and bring ideas to the market cheaper and more efficiently. This effort was initiated by Jim Malackowski and Manny Schechter. 

State Intellectual Property Alliances: One of the significant values that the USIPA brings to the IP ecosystem is to enable State level IP alliances that can take the national IP Messages to the people locally. The State IPA committee under Sam Zellner and Zak Tutino took on this important task, with the result that we have 4 State IPAs formed in 2021, with another dozen in different stages of formation. Special thanks to Barry Brager, Steve Susalka, Kevin Cranman and Brian O’Shaughnessey for their support and engagement in getting these State IPA’s set up and running.