Inclusive Innovation Ecosystems
Key IP considerations for smaller enterprises
The Innovation Council team wrote an article that was published in the June issue of WIPO Magazine. The article, by Phil Wadsworth, with Jennifer Brant and Peter Brown, highlights key IP considerations for smaller companies. In particular, the article highlights the importance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of patents, trade secrets, copyright protections, and trademarks, as well as design rights, and discusses how these protections can facilitate collaboration, successful commercialization, and other beneficial outcomes for small businesses.
Gender and Racial Diversity in Invention and Patenting: Lessons from Women’s Experiences
Joined by Invent Together and women inventors, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) will present new research on the challenges women inventors face based on gender and race and how to overcome them.
The event takes place on 20 July, 2pm ET.
2021 Innovators Under 35
In the “35 Innovators Under 35” competition, the MIT Technology Review nominates more than 500 people every year and will showcase these global winners in their July/August issue and online. From this group, the Technology Review’s editors select the most promising 100 competitors to advance to the semi-finalist round, and the work of these top 100 contestants is then evaluated by a panel of judges with expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, software, energy, and materials. Using the insights from these rankings, the editors select the final list of 35.
Read the full story and scroll through the list of inventors.
Trailblazing Women Engineers Inspire the Next Generation
In the United States, engineering remains one of the undergraduate majors with the smallest percentage of women. The percentage of women engineers in the workplace is even smaller. Inspire! is a collection of three educational videos, with an accompanying discussion guide, that will empower middle school and early high school girls to overcome obstacles facing girls and women in STEM fields, such as a lack of confidence and discouragement from others.
Closing the Gender Gap in IP – Exploring Multi-stakeholder initiatives
Holly Fechner from Invent together is speaking in a sharing session on “Exploring Multi-stakeholder Initiatives that Encourage Women to Participate in, and Contribute to, the Innovation Ecosystem” organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on 07 July.
Spotlight on South Africa: 10 Questions for Biovac’s Patrick Tippoo
Innovation Council sat down with Patrick Tippoo, the Head of Science and Innovation at The Biovac Institute in South Africa to learn more about its activities and innovations. Established in 2003 in Cape Town, Biovac was created to distribute, manufacture, and develop vaccines and biologics for Southern Africa. Patrick, who has been with Biovac since its establishment, has more than 30 years in the industry.
European Inventor Award 2021 Popular Prize
The race is on to see who will win the coveted Popular Prize at the 2021 European Inventor awards. Fifteen inventors or inventor teams from around the world have been nominated for this year’s Popular Prize. They are in five categories: Industry, Lifetime achievement, Non-EPO countries, SMEs and Research.
Gender mainstreaming enhances women’s representation in inventions
In her article for the International Women’s Day 2021, Carolina Torres-Sarmiento pays tribute to female inventors and their contribution to social developments, and draws attention to the glass ceilings they had to break on their way to success. Gender gaps in science and technology are, unfortunately, still very present. Data extracted from patent offices in the US and the UK, as well as the ‘She figures (2018)’ EU report, show the necessity of more equal representation in the patent system. Multiple actions can be considered, such as enhancing women’s representation in all fields of science and technology, reducing the gender gap in STEM education, encouraging female recognition in patent applications, increasing the involvement of women in business and innovation processes, and promoting awareness to prevent gender bias in emerging technologies.
World IP Day 2021: IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market
World Intellectual Property Day 2021 shines a light on the critical role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the economy and how they can use intellectual property (IP) rights to build stronger, more competitive and resilient businesses. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has developed interactive materials to learn more about IP and its use for SMEs.