2022 Black Innovation and Entrepreneurship program, part one: Defining tomorrow

Janet Emerson Bashen is an American entrepreneur, business consultant, and software inventor who is best known for patenting a web-based equal employment opportunity (EEO) software application, LinkLine, to assist with EEO investigations and claims tracking. As a result of her work with EEO and diversity and inclusion, Bashen is regarded as a social justice advocate.

Hellen Bryan-Johnson is the Senior Trademark Policy Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, where she advises and confers with senior leaders on a variety of topics concerning trademark operations and policy issues.

When she is not serving in that role, Bryan-Johnson is a managing attorney for a trademark law office, where she leads a team of trademark examining attorneys and also serves as a substantive expert on a variety of topics related to the trademark examination process. Throughout her USPTO career, she has worked on numerous special initiatives, including coordinating trademark examination for the USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Program and serving as a presenter in various stakeholder outreach programs. She has also worked on special assignments with other agencies within the Department of Commerce on matters covering intellectual property law and Department-wide administrative initiatives. While serving in an advisory capacity to the Commercial Law Development Program in the Office of General Counsel for the Department of Commerce, she provided advice on trademark operations and policy issues to the governments of Pakistan and Ukraine. 

Bryan-Johnson began her career at the USPTO in 1999 as a trademark examining attorney and joined the trademark management team in 2005. Prior to joining the USPTO, she was an assistant state attorney in West Palm Beach, Florida. Bryan-Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Furman University, a Juris Doctor from Nova Southeastern University Law Center, and a master’s degree in International and Comparative Law (LLM) with honors from Georgetown University Law Center.

Morgan DeBaun is a serial entrepreneur and corporate advisor. As the Founder & CEO of Blavity Inc., the leading digital media company for Black culture and millennials, DeBaun has grown the company into a market leader for Black media, reaching over 100 million readers per month through a growing brand portfolio, which includes: Blavity News, 21Ninety, AfroTech, Travel Noire, and Shadow & Act. Under DeBaun’s leadership, Blavity has launched several leading consumer summits, including Summit 21 for Black women creators and AfroTech, the largest tech conference for Black innovators and founders. DeBaun acts as an advisor to influential global brands and companies including American Airlines, CES, Pantora Bridal, and Rosen Skincare.

NaThanya Ferguson serves as the manager of the USPTO’s Office of Innovation Outreach, which focuses on outreach to independent inventors, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and underrepresented communities of innovators across America.

Ferguson joined the USPTO in 1989. During her 33-year tenure at the agency, she has worked as a contracting officer representative, lead patent analyst for the Patent Process Reengineering initiative, strategic planning project manager for the Office of the Commissioner for Patents, and project manager for the National Council for Expanding American Innovation (NCEAI).

Ferguson has received numerous awards, including a Department of Commerce Gold Medal in 2015 for her contribution to the innovative and collaborative implementation of the First Inventor to File statutory provisions of the America Invents Act, a Department of Commerce Distinguished Career Award in 2011 for continued outstanding service, and a Silver Medal Award in 1999 for her contribution to the development and implementation of the Patent Process Reengineering initiative.

Ferguson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business and management from Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s Certificate in project management from Management Concepts and Regis University.

Alford Kindred has been with the USPTO since 1997. His tenure includes serving as a patent examiner, primary patent examiner, supervisory patent examiner, Acting Director of the Office of Information Management Services, Regional Manager of the Midwest Regional Office, and the Outreach Regional Assistant Director for the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional USPTO located in Detroit, Michigan. Kindred earned his Bachelor of Science degree in electronic engineering at Norfolk State University, and then a master’s degree in computer resources and information systems at Webster University, Saint Louis, Missouri. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and he is the current president of the USPTO Military Association (UMA).

Kindred has also founded mentoring groups for kids to help them learn about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) and intellectual property through active participation.

Bismarck Myrick became the Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity (formerly: the Office Civil Rights) at the USPTO in July 2008. From 2003 to 2008, Myrick was the Deputy Director of that Office. Prior to joining the USPTO, Myrick worked as an appellate review attorney in Office of Federal Operations at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from 1999 to 2003. Prior to working at the EEOC, Myrick worked as a trial attorney for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services. Myrick received a bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from Florida State University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Myrick is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and State of Maryland.

Olivia Scheuer joined the Office of Enrollment and Discipline as a patent attorney in 2021. As a member of the Patent Pro Bono team, she works with patent pro bono programs across the nation to ensure that all inventors have access to the patent system, including those who are financially under-resourced. In addition to Patent Pro Bono responsibilities, Scheuer serves as a staff attorney investigating discipline and enrollment matters.

Previously, Scheuer served as associate patent counsel for Naval Air Systems Command and was employed as a patent attorney for IBM. Scheuer received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from University of South Florida and graduated magna cum laude from the University at Buffalo School of Law. She is a member of the New York Bar and is registered to practice before the USPTO in patent matters.

Lanny Smoot, Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development Imagineer and Disney Research Fellow, has earned more than 100 patents from the USPTO – a first for anyone at The Walt Disney Company. Smoot discusses his career in the USPTO's February 2022 installment of the USPTO's Journeys of Innovation, "As if by magic."

Smoot is featured as part of the exhibit “Breaking Barriers: Honoring Extraordinary Black Inventors” at the National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) museum located in the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. The NIHF exhibit is being presented in partnership with the USPTO and the Black Inventors Hall of Fame.

Before joining Disney, Smoot worked at Bell Laboratories and then Bell Communications Research. While at Bell, Smoot earned patents for his work in the early development of video-on-demand technology, video conferencing, a television system for displaying multiple views of a remote location, and fiber optic receivers that can be used in harsh temperature environments.

Stacy Spikes got his start as a film marketing executive and producer and first made headlines when he became the co-founder and CEO of MoviePass.

Jayde V. Stewart is part of the team that coordinates the USPTO’s active partnerships with the National Inventors Hall of Fame, National Academy of Inventors, National Science and Technology Medals Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, and other outreach partners. She develops reports related to multiple Joint Project Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding under the agency's National Outreach Partnerships team. Stewart works closely with these partners to organize events, competitions, award nominations, and other projects that support the mission and strategic direction of the USPTO and is part of the team that administers the selection process for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation's highest honor for technological achievement.