US Patent & Trademark Office Launches Website to Encourage STEM in School

Innovation is clearly vital to the success of the US Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO recently launched USPTO KIDS!, which includes games, coloring pages, audio and video, to encourage students of all ages in the inventive thinking process. Students will get to explore profiles of students their own age such as Marissa Streng, who received a patent for her dog dryer invention while in elementary school, and Rebecca Hyndman, who received a patent for the invention of an under-floor she developed as an 8th grader.

Michelle K. Lee, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO, explains the importance of inspiring innovation and creativity in children: “The USPTO looks to our children—the doers, makers, and tinkerers of the future—to reimagine the world and, as the Constitution calls for, ‘to promote the progress of Science and the useful Arts’ like never before. As schools across the country ramp up their STEM programming, we look forward to putting even more tools in teachers’ hands that will ensure our next generation is well-versed in concepts of making, inventing, and creating the high-value intellectual property that drives our economy.”

The new USPTO KIDS! website provides educational and outreach material, not only for students, but also educators and parents.