Innovator Diversity Pilots Conference

In the US, women represent over 50% of the workforce and 27% of STEM workers, but only 13% of inventors. A growing number of companies, law firms, academics, and agencies are actively experimenting with ways to narrow these and other innovator-inventor gaps* in participation. Join us for the second innovator diversity pilots conference, co-organized with the United States Patent & Trademark Office, the National Council on Patent Practicum (NCPP), and Adapt.Legal, and supported by a host of sponsors focused on projects and effective practices to increase participation in innovation.

The 2024 Conference was held on Friday, September 20, 2024 in Tull Auditorium at Emory University School of Law.

VIEW THE CONFERENCE AGENDA »

Conference Video

Conference participants will:

Learn from and share with peers and others a wealth of practices for increasing diversity and inclusion in invention and innovation and evidence of their effectiveness;
Hear from leading academics, corporate attorneys, and the USPTO about how to run pilots using best practices as documented by the IPO Diversity Toolkit and High Tech Law Institute’s Best Practices in Diversity Guide to quantify their impact;
Join a community of leaders exploring and deploying novel ways to increase the participation of women and underrepresented groups in innovation and inventing.

Information from the first conference is available here; also check out the Diversity Pilots Initiative website.

Recommended Hotel

Emory Conference Center Hotel
Address: 1615 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30329
Phone: 404.712.6000
Reservation Toll Free: 800.933.6679
Website: https://www.emoryconferencecenter.com

Note: Hotel provides shuttle service to the law school

Sponsored by the Emory University School of Law with The University of California-Berkeley

Co-sponsors include:

Diamond Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Non-Financial Sponsors

Organizers and Keynote Speakers

(First Row From Left) Margo Bagley, Colleen Chien, Valencia Martin Wallace, Derrick Brent, Jillian Grennan
(Second Row From Left) Donald Beamer, Jr., Farheena Rasheed, Suzanne Harrison, Michael Binns, Braxton Davis
(Third Row From Left) Petra Moser, Jeremiah Chan, Paul R. Gugliuzza

Organized by: Professor Margo Bagley (Emory University School of Law), Professor Colleen Chien (University of California Berkeley School of Law), and Professor Jillian Grennan (Emory University)

Additional Speakers

View bios for speakers »

Speakers at Innovator Diversity Pilots Conference

References and Articles

Bagley, Margo A., "Deploying Our Secret Weapon," Marquette Lawyer 25 (Summer 2024).
Burrage, April. "Beyond the Pipeline (Problem): Examining Racial and Ethnic Representation in 21st Century High Technology Self-employment."
Chien, Colleen V., "Redefining Progress: the Case for Diversity in Innovation and Inventing," UCLA L. Rev.(2024) Forthcoming Article.
Chien, Colleen V. and Jillian Grennan, "Unpacking the Innovator-Inventor Gap: Evidence from Engineers," (2024).
Chien, Colleen V. and Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, "Improving Equity in Patent Inventorship: Expanding Who Gets Credit for Invention May Boost Participation in Innovation," 382 Science 1128 (2023). Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj2911
ChIPs Report, "Inclusion and Innovation: Retaining And Advancing Women in Tech, Law, and Policy," (May 2024)
Heath, Davidson and Seegert, Nathan and Yang, Jeffrey. "Team Production and the Homophily Trap: Evidence from Open Source Software," (December 6, 2023).
Invent Together, "The Role of Trust in Advancing Equity in Innovation," (2024).
Masclans, Roger, Sharique Hasan, and Wesley Cohen. "Measuring the Commercial Potential of Science," (March 2024).
Moser, Petra and Moritz Lubczyk. "The Ms. Allocation of Talent: Can Shifts in the Allocation of Talent Close the Innovation Gender Gap?," (2024).
National Strategy for American Innovation
Subramani, Gauri and Saksena, Michelle. "Untapped Potential: Investigating Gender Disparities in Patent Citations," USPTO Economic Working Paper No. 2024-3 (July 17, 2024).

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