Increase in Patents Granted to Women

A new study commissioned by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) has found that the number of women obtaining patents has grown at an accelerating rate over the past 35 years and in numbers considerably higher than previously reported. 

According to the study, the largest spike came in 2010, when 22,984 patents were granted to women, which was a 35 percent jump over the previous year. In 2009, women received 17,061 patents, a 4.5 percent increase over the 16,321 issued in 2008.

The details are part of the preliminary findings from an extensive review of patents granted between 1975 and 2010 by the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO). NWBC commissioned a private research company, Delixus, Inc., to conduct the study to determine the rates of women who apply for and receive patents. The study, which also will examine data on women with trademarks, is the first of its kind to explore this issue in depth, mainly because federal patent and trademark applicants did not ask for gender information. Newly-passed legislation will allow USPTO to start tracking gender data this year.

“Patent and trademark ownership often is an indicator of entrepreneurial activity – historically, women have not been a large segment of this activity. A bump in IP ownership could indicate strong growth in women-owned companies,” said NWBC Chair Donna James said. 

NWBC researchers examined the names of all patents granted over a 35-year period, determining gender by using the applicant’s name. To do this, researchers relied upon multiple sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Social Security Administration, which compiles a list of the 10,000 most common American names for men and women. Because of the nation’s changing population demographics over the last quarter century, researchers also relied on commercially available data of the most common names in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Spanish, German and French. Uncommon names from other foreign countries, as well as unisex names, also were examined. Just under 6 percent of the names in patent disclosures could not be identified as male or female.

Details of the full report, which will include numbers on women, patents, trademarks over time and by industry, will be released during an upcoming news event at the USPTO headquarters in early March. NWBC will commemorate a 35-year history of women inventors by featuring a new female inventor every day on its website during March, which is Women’s History Month.

Small, Minority & Women Business Expo

Save the Date!

Event: Small, Minority & Women Business Enterprise Expo 2012

Date: March 28, 2012

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Location: Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA

Calling all minority business enterprises (MBE), women business enterprises (WBE), disadvantaged businesses (DB), veteran owned businesses (VOB), and service disabled veteran owned (SDVO) businesses in the state of Pennsylvania.

The Department of General Services, Bureau of Minority and Women Business Opportunities invites you to attend the “Small, Minority & Women Business Enterprise Expo” on March 28, 2012, to obtain information on contracting processes, best practices, and programs that support your business. The Expo is being held in an effort to provide information to contractors and subcontractors on contracting opportunities with federal, state, and city agencies.

The Expo will be hosted by Mayor Linda D. Thompson, City of Harrisburg, and co-sponsored by the Naval Supply Systems Command, the PA Departments of General Services and Public Welfare.

More information and registration details will be available soon. Visit the Bureau of Minority & Women Business Opportunities at www.dgs.state.pa.us/bcabd.

Food Network Seeks Food Entrepreneurs

image by decafinata, used under a Creative Commons license

Are you bravely ditching your day job to pursue your passion of launching your own food business with no culinary training?

Casting Call: A new Food Network series is looking for food entrepreneurs for a new show with Bobby Flay!

Specifically, the network is seeking people who have left their previous career to start a new restaurant (or similar business).

Entrepreneurs must meet the following criteria to be considered for the series: 

• must have little-to-no prior professional culinary experience;
• must be planning to open a brick-and-mortar space where there will be walk-in customers (restaurant, bakery, sandwich shop, etc.); and
• must be aiming to open between now and autumn 2012.

Those chosen will receive culinary and business coaching from Bobby Flay (a chef, restaurateur, and fixture on the Food Network) as well as invaluable national publicity.

If you fit the above criteria, email an outline of your timeline, budget, menu, team, and especially what’s at stake for you in this endeavor (why you are doing it and what risks, financial as well as personal, you are taking) to foodtvshow@gmail.com. They are highly interested in the “human-interest” angle of your story.

For more information, check out the Twitter account and Facebook page. 

Stories will be accepted through February. 

Exporting Webinars

Learn how your company can tap into the global marketplace.

As part of the National Export Initiative, the Commerce Department's Trade Information Center is offering a series of one-hour webinars on the basics of exporting.

The webinars are designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the export process, including transaction-oriented topics on subjects such as duty drawback and temporary export shipments. The series includes webinars on how to write an export plan, how to ship goods to international buyers, and how to classify products under the harmonized system, as well as estimating the full cost to the buyer of delivering your products to a foreign destination. Webinars will be led by experts in their field and will include slides, live audio, and question-and-answer sessions. The cost is $15 per webinar.
 
The first program, “How to Write an Export Plan," will be held on January 18. The full list of webinar topics and dates is available here.

Learn more and register at http://www.export.gov/articles/eg_main_022213.asp.

Happy Holidays! (See you in 2012.)

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Please note that Seton Hill University and the E-Magnify offices are closed for the holidays and will reopen on January 2, 2012.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners' $50,000 Business Plan Contest

Could you use $50,000 to develop your big idea into a business?

The Ben Franklin Venture Investment Forum, in partnership with Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA, are holding their BIG IDEA Business Plan Contest. This contest is for tech-based start up companies who want to further develop and grow a business in the 32-county footprint served by the program in Pennsylvania.  The grand prize winner will receive $50,000.

To qualify for the contest, you must meet the following qualifications:

    •    be located in one of the 32 counties served by the program (see a list of eligible counties here);
    •    have a new, marketable business idea that includes a commercialization plan;
    •    have no significant sales if a product has already been developed;
    •    have fewer than 50 employees if a company has been formed; and
    •    have not received previous Ben Franklin funding.

The deadline for applications is February 29, 2012.

For more information, description of rules, entry forms, and FAQs visit http://bigidea.benfranklin.org.

Preferred industry sectors include, but are not limited to, nanotechnology, green technologies, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, information technology, and software.

New Faces at E-Magnify

E-Magnify welcomes Debra L. Mason as the Center's newest full-time staff member. Debra joins the E-Magnify team as Manager of Education and Training.

Debra will support the Center’s entrepreneurship educational and training initiatives, including its online and in-person workshops, seminars, and symposiums.

Debra brings a unique mix of qualifications to her new position. She has worked in large corporations, nonprofits, higher education, and as a business owner. Debra spent ten years with Xerox Corporation, where she worked in sales, staffing and development, and client operations. She has also served as the Director of the Office of Racial Diversity and Inclusion for YWCA Greater Pittsburgh. In 2004 she started her own firm, Victory Management, an organizational management and employee consulting/ training business specializing in diversity and leadership skills. She has been an adjunct business professor at Geneva College since 2005.

"As a business owner myself, I understand what women are looking for to elevate their businesses," says Debra. "I look forward to helping E-Magnify's clients take their businesses to the next level through practical, useable training. I love combining business theory with real-world solutions that actually work."

In 2011 Debra received the New Pittsburgh Courier 50 Women Of Excellence award and was a panelist for the City of Pittsburgh's DiverseCity 365. She has previously served as the managing director of Pittsburgh's eWomenNetwork and as president-elect of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). In addition, Debra was the 2007 NAWBO National Conference Speaker and received the 2006 NAWBO Member of the Year Award (Pittsburgh Chapter). 

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Also joining the E-Magnify team are two new independent contractors. 

Melanie Ansell will serve as one of E-Magnify's Business Counselors, providing free, one-on-one sessions to women business owners and those interested in starting a business. She has also been named the manager of the ATHENAPowerLink Program for Southwestern Pennsylvania. Melanie has a long history in finance and served as the regional president for First Commonwealth Bank for nine years. She is co-owner of My Business Builders, LLC, a consulting firm where she specializes in entrepreneurial development.

Jennifer McGuiggan joins the E-Magnify team as the Marketing Communications Coordinator. She previously worked in a similar staff role at the Center from 2001 to 2006. During her time with E-Magnify she founded The Word Cellar, a freelance writing, editing, and creative coaching business, which has now brought her full circle as she adds the Center to her list of clients.

Please join us in welcoming Debra, Melanie, and Jennifer by leaving a comment below.