THE INVENTOR DIVERSITY FOR ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT (IDEA) ACT OF 2021
Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.), and Congressman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) re-introduced the Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement (“IDEA”) Act in March 2021 to ensure equal access to the U.S innovation system.
Tillis cited several studies that show women and minorities apply and obtain patents at lower rates than male white counterparts. In fact, women make up only 13% of inventors, and Black and Hispanic graduates apply for patents at half the rate of White graduates.
To address these discrepancies, the IDEA Act would direct the USPTO to collect demographic information from patent applicants voluntarily. It also requires the USPTO to make the data publicly available in addition to reports on the data. This will help other researchers analyze the issue and offer solutions to the problem. The proposal now awaits judiciary committee review.
Data collection is the first step to identifying areas of change. You can access the text to the legislation here.
For more on this topic, check out these posts:
IIPSJ’s Comments to USPTO on strategy for National Council for Expanding American Innovation