"There is a Stigma Associated with IP Rights," Kara Miller Tells Audience of Leading IP Owners, Creators and Educators
Lack of knowledge about intellectual property rights holds back women and minorities and undercuts innovation
The money that could flow to creative people often never does. Especially to people who don’t, in the general course of their lives, encounter IP lawyers.”
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA, May 2, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Kara Miller, a well-known journalist who covers science and technology, told an audience of IP owners, creators, lawyers and educators gathered today in Boston that the nation needs to do a better job of teaching young people about turning what they into assets, especially those in underserved communities. Their ideas matter, she told the group, and some of them can can be quite lucrative. — Kara Miller, keynote speaker, 6th IP Awareness Summit
"In many ways, young people are exactly the audience you want to talk to about the power of creativity - whether that creativity is in fashion, music, tech start-ups or videos," keynote speaker Miller told more than 120 people at the Intellectual Property Awareness Summit. "But the system that protects those creators is rarely discussed. And it means that the money that could flow to creative people often never does. Especially to people who don’t, in the general course of their lives, encounter IP lawyers."
Miller believes that for many people there is there is a stigma associated with IP rights. "[People] believe IP is the province of only large pharmaceutical companies, or they mean you’ll get involved in a lawsuit. Folks in the IP world worry that the separation between those in the general public and those who deal with intellectual property is expanding, not shrinking."
In 2019, just under 13% of inventors getting patents were women, said Miller, founding host of public radio's 'Innovation Hub' and the Boston Globe 'Big Idea' columnist. "And the ability of women to attract capital has been even more dismal."
In 2022, Pitchbook reported that companies founded solely by women received about 2% of VC funding, the lowest percentage in 6 years. If you broaden the view to include companies that include at least one male co-founder, that number rises to about 15%. If your parents are in the top 1% of income earners, you are ten times more likely to become an inventor than people whose parents earn under the median income.
Michael Cima, a member of the National Academy of Inventors and a professor of engineering at MIT, who introduced Miller at IPAS 2023, argues that underrepresented groups are held back because of lack of ownership. He says that even at MIT students assume ideas that feel obvious do not need protection.
A recording of Miller's presentation and five IPAS panels with 22 speakers in all will be available later this month on CIPU's YouTube channel.
The 6th IP Awareness Summit was held by the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) in conjunction with the Center for Research Innovation at Northeastern University. The program, speakers and their biographies can be found here.
Five National Academy of Inventors members were among the speakers today. NAI membership is reserved for the highest level of scholar-inventors.
Bruce Berman
The Center for IP Understanding
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