ALEXANDRIA - The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently launched a Diversity Information Platform (DI Platform) to advance diversity and inclusion efforts throughout the innovation ecosystem by providing a no-cost tool for data-driven analyses and a one-stop shop for discussing and sharing best practices, according to the official website of the USPTO.

The unique online platform is free and available to anyone with an internet connection. It offers several novel features including: 

• Visual representations of the demographic makeup of US states and industries from 2014 through 2021

• A tool for any organization to benchmark their demographic data against their own industry sector (over 100 US industries included) 

• A discussion forum for sharing best practices for increasing participation in the innovation ecosystem 

• And–for the first time–a set of visualizations that show the demographic makeup of the USPTO workforce by geography and occupation 

“Expanding participation in the innovation ecosystem is key to unlocking more jobs, more community-driven businesses, and more creative ideas to help solve global problems such as climate change and hunger,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and USPTO Director Kathi Vidal. “It’s also a broad-based effort that requires participation from all industries and partners, working together to drive progress through data sharing and analyses. This new Diversity Information Platform provides a venue for all of us to put skin in the game to scale our efforts and build on our work together.”  

The DI Platform is built on public data available from the US Census Bureau, the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the USPTO. All of the visualizations and data on the DI Platform are downloadable and usable without restrictions for creating presentations or using the data directly in other applications or software. 

At the USPTO, we are committed to promoting equity and inclusion in the intellectual property (IP) ecosystem and beyond. We encourage users to explore and share this data, and to take part in the conversation by sharing your best practices.