Voluntary Collection of Inventor Data to Track Patent Diversity.
This law allows the voluntary collection of demographic information (gender, race, veteran status) from inventors applying for US patents. This data is kept strictly confidential, separate from the patent application, and cannot influence the examination process. The goal is to publish anonymized, aggregated reports to better understand and track diversity within the innovation system.
Key points
Inventors can voluntarily provide demographic details like gender, race, and veteran status when applying for a patent.
The data is protected: it is kept confidential, not shared with patent examiners, and exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The Patent Office must publish annual, anonymized reports showing aggregated diversity statistics among patent applicants and recipients.
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