Understanding the demographic makeup of inventors who apply for patents is a critical first step for characterizing who participates in the intellectual property ecosystem and for identifying policies that will expand participation. The USPTO is organizing a one-day symposium that will bring together economists, computer scientists, and others to discuss research methods, applied examples, and new ideas.
The symposium will:
- Provide an overview of current approaches from leading scholars in the field
- Build knowledge
- Identify a community of practitioners
- Facilitate the application of common approaches
This program will be of interest to all researchers engaged in inventor demographics based on administrative and other records. There is no charge to attend, but registration in advance is required.
Agenda
Agenda subject to change
Introductions
9:00–9:03 a.m. ET Greetings and logistics
- Shoshana Rabinovsky, moderator, AIR
9:03–9:10 a.m. ET Introductions and objectives
- Andrew Toole, host, USPTO
Inventor gender
9:15–9:45 a.m. ET World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) approach to inventor gender
- Julio Raffo, WIPO
9:50–10:20 a.m. ET PatentsView approach to inventor gender
- Ernest Miguelez, University of Bordeaux
10:25–10:55 a.m. ET Assessing approaches to inventor gender
- Michelle Saksena, USPTO
10:55–11:10 a.m. ET Break
Inventor race/ethnicity: Session 1
11:10–11:40 a.m. ET “Predicting ethnicity from names with rethnicity: Methodology and application”
- Fangzhou Xie, Rutgers University
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m. ET Foreign-origin status from name analysis: lessons learned from work on inventors and managers
- Francesco Lissoni, Bordeaux University / Bocconi University
12:15–1:00 p.m. ET Lunch
Inventor race/ethnicity: Session 2
1:00–1:30 p.m. ET Introducing the ZRP model
- Jay Budzick, ZestAI
1:35–2:05 p.m. ET "A new method for estimating race/ethnicity and associated disparities where administrative records lack self-reported race/ethnicity"
- Marc Elliott, Rand
2:05 p.m.–2:20 p.m. ET Break
Panel discussion
2:20–3:20 p.m. ET Panel theme: Perspectives on inventor demographic research
- Trevon Logan, Ohio State University
- Adam Gailey, Charles River Associates (CRA)
- Jason Dietrich, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Moderator: Nicholas Rada, USPTO
Closing remarks
3:20 p.m. ET
- Andrew Toole, host, USPTO
Additional information
For more information, visit the symposium webpage or email contact@patentsview.org.
This virtual program has been organized by the USPTO’s Office of the Chief Economist, a unit of the USPTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA), and will be hosted by the American Institutes for Research. OPIA advises the administration and other federal government departments and agencies on domestic and international intellectual property (IP) legal and policy issues. It also provides technical assistance and training on IP-related matters to U.S. stakeholders and both U.S. and foreign government officials.