The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have signed a memorandum of agreement to continue collaborating on advancing climate technology.
Under the partnership, NOAA and USPTO will codify their employee exchange program and strengthen collaborative programs, data-sharing and policies that support climate-related initiatives, NOAA said Wednesday.
As part of the employee exchange program, experts at the USPTO work with the NOAA Technology Partnerships Office to provide intellectual property training for the agency’s scientific workforce
In turn, a NOAA climate expert provides training to USPTO patent examiners who review patent applications for climate and environmental technologies.
“Together with the USPTO we can assure that intellectual property protection of new ideas will enhance the advancements and benefit all of the nation,” said Rick Spinrad, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
“Only by working with climate innovators — such as our incredible colleagues at NOAA — can we protect innovation with intellectual property and attract the investment needed to make a meaningful impact,” said Kathi Vidal, undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the USPTO.