The US Patent and Trademark Office recently announced a new pilot program it is sponsoring with the National Science Foundation. Through this pilot program, the USPTO provides educational services and its IP Awareness Assessment tool. The pilot program will “provide additional services” in the future.
The pilot program is available to awardees of the Small Business Innovation Research program. The USPTO Small Business Innovation Research Pilot Program has the stated purpose of “improv[ing] the transfer of research from . . . labs to the marketplace.”
Since its inception, the Small Business Innovation Research program has granted over 112,500 awards totaling more than $26.9 billion. Here are some additional statistics from the Small Business Innovation Research program:
- 15,000 firms
- $21 billion in research
- 50,000 patents
- 7 patents/day
- 400,000 scientists & engineers
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