In February, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released a report finding that the proportion of female inventors is not keeping pace with the proportion of women entering science and engineering fields.  

On April 3, the IP Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing on efforts to reach gender parity in innovation, entitled “Trailblazers and Lost Einsteins: Women Inventors and the Future of American Innovation.”

3M Assistant Chief Intellectual Property Counsel Sandra Nowak was one of four witnesses who testified at the hearing.  Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the ranking member of the subcommittee, asked Sandra to participate as a result of her presentation at a recent USPTO roundtable discussion on the topic as well as her leadership on the issue of gender parity in innovation at 3M and through her contributions as a leader of IPO’s Women in IP Law Committee.  

In addition to Sandra, other witnesses included Robin Rasor, executive director, Office of Licensing and Venture, Duke Universi​ty; Dr. Barbara Gault, executive vice president, Institute for Women’s Policy Research; and Dr. Patricia Bath, president, American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness.
 
You can watch the entire hearing here. Sandra’s testimony begins at the 1:16:40 mark.