On Tuesday, Stephen Pinkos, the U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, addressed inventors and small business owners in Nashville, TN, regarding the general risks of international IP theft. Mr. Pinkos noted that over 95% of all businesses in Tennessee are “small businesses,” and contribute to the over $19B in annual exports from Tennessee. This seminar, entitled “Conference on Intellectual Property in the Global Marketplace” (previously discussed on the Daily Dose of IP here), focused on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Mr. Pinkos noted in particular that “[i]ntellectual property theft worldwide costs American companies $250 billion a year and – by extension – hurts American workers and their families.” According to the USPTO, “[t]he Nashville seminar is the latest in a series the USPTO is hosting across the country to help educate American innovators and businesses about protecting their intellectual property.” To satisfy my own curiosity about Tennessee inventors, I researched the USPTO database and noted that in 2005, there were 905 U.S. patents issued that included at least one Tennessee inventor, and there were 475 U.S. patents assigned to Tennessee companies. These figures are down from 2004, where 1,100 U.S. patents issued that included at least one Tennessee inventor, and 585 U.S. patents were assigned to Tennessee companies.

USPTO Seminar Summary (Released July 17): LINK
USPTO Seminar Summary (Released July 18): LINK
DDIP Nashville Seminar Blog Article: LINK