MEDIA ADVISORY Contact(media inquiries only): Maria V. Hernandez 703-305-8341 maria.hernandez2@uspto.gov July 13, 2001 #01-31 USPTO TO HOLD 6TH ANNUAL INDEPENDENT INVENTOR'S CONFERENCE August 3 - 4, 2001; 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The DoubleTree Hotel 300 Army Navy Drive Arlington, Va. It all begins with an idea…But where do you go from there? The Department of Commerce's U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Office of Independent Inventor Programs (OIIP) will answer this and other questions about patenting inventions and registering trademarks at the 6th Annual Independent Inventor's Conference, "Celebrating National Inventor's Month," August 3 - 4, 2001 in Arlington, Va. "Throughout history, it has been the independent inventor who was on the cutting edge of new products and technologies. So many great ideas have come from individuals, such as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who invented the world's first personal computer working together in a garage," noted Nicholas Godici, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO. The two-day conference schedule includes workshops on patent and trademark basics, patent and trademark searching techniques, interacting with patent and trademark examiners, and hands on training in USPTO's electronic patent and trademark application filing systems. In addition to USPTO staff, workshops will be hosted by outstanding experts in product development and marketing, including Ronald Docie, inventor and author; "Furby" toy inventor Richard Levy; J. Mark Davis, inventor and marketer; Joanne Hayes-Rines, editor of the Inventor's Digest; and Dan Lauer, CEO and founder of a successful toy company. For more information visit USPTO's web site at http://www.uspto.gov/go/iic2001. # # #