September 9, 2024
Holly Fechner
Originally published in IAM Magazine.
The United States is at a critical juncture in the global innovation race. While China and other foreign competitors work to train new inventors and increase innovation capacity, our nation continues to leave talent untapped.
Women account for slightly more than half of the US population but only 13% of US inventors.
People of colour make up more than 40% of the US population, but Black, Hispanic, Multiracial, and Indigenous people account for less than 8% of US inventors.
These disparities stifle US innovation and undermine America's competitive edge. It's time to confront the hidden barriers that hinder the full participation of underrepresented inventors in our innovation ecosystem.
The underrepresentation of women and people of colour in inventing and patenting is often attributed to a lack of awareness and education and the high cost of patenting, but there are other, more human elements at play, too. A new study from Invent Together finds that trust is a pivotal factor influencing decisions to invent and patent.
According to “The Role of Trust in Advancing Equity in Innovation”, fostering trust among women and people of colour can empower them to feel more confident in navigating the costly and complex patenting process. The study finds that women and people of colour tend to be more cautious about working with the people and institutions that could help them navigate the patenting process due to a history of misappropriation of underrepresented inventors’ ideas.
Expectations of mistreatment based on past personal experiences in the workplace also diminish trust. These experiences and expectations make inventors more hesitant to share ideas with others, which is crucial during the inventing and patenting process.
The study shows that there is an urgent need to cultivate an innovation ecosystem in which every prospective inventor feels welcomed, supported, and heard. All stakeholders, including the US government, companies, and universities, have a role to play in making this vision a reality.
For US policymakers, this starts with increasing early exposure to inventing, including in school curricula, to foster creativity from a young age, demystify inventing and patenting, and empower future inventors to pursue and protect their ideas.
It also requires deeper collaboration between the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), US Small Business Administration, entrepreneur support organisations, and community leaders to ensure that trusted local organisations have the benefit of the government resources.
Expanding access to free legal assistance is also essential for under-resourced inventors.
While inventors can try to navigate the patenting process themselves, patenting requires both technical and legal knowledge, and IP practitioners can help. The USPTO recently doubled the budget of its patent pro bono program and reported a record level of volunteer attorney participation. This is an example of the commitment we need from government agencies to support inventors. It makes a real difference for inventors such as Janira Hernandez from Chicago, Illinois, who used the programme to successfully patent a baby bottle that helps caregivers prevent spillage.
We must also invest in expanding technology transfer capacity, particularly at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions, to facilitate greater knowledge exchange and commercialisation. Technology transfer offices (TTOs) provide invaluable support to faculty and students as they bring their research from the lab to market, yet many HBCUs have no TTO and the ones that do are often under-resourced.
The pursuit of a more inclusive innovation ecosystem is not merely a matter of justice—it's an economic imperative.
We need bold, sustained efforts to dismantle the barriers faced by underrepresented inventors to truly realize the full spectrum of American ingenuity.
Winning the global innovation race is within reach, but victory will require transformative public policy initiatives to welcome and empower underrepresented inventors.
