September 07, 1995
PTO 95-28

National Inventor's Expo and Conference

PTO TO HOLD THE 23rd ANNUAL NATIONAL INVENTOR'S EXPO AND CONFERENCE AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

	  
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


     A special device to change light bulbs, a glow-in-the-dark

croquet set, inline skates that convert to ice skates, a

wristwatch that helps you to stop smoking, and an effortless way

to remove graffiti will be among the inventions highlighted

during the 23rd Annual National Inventor's Expo and Conference at

Walt Disney World Epcot September 15-17, sponsored by the

Commerce Department's Patent and Trademark Office, the

Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) and Epcot.  The expo honors

the role individual inventors play in improving the quality of

our daily lives and in the growth and dynamism of our economy.

     The 125 exhibitors at this year's expo come from all parts
of the United States and have invented a vast array of products
for recreation, safety, the home, automobile and the environment.
Stations will be set up September 16-17 around Epcot Future World
featuring recently patented inventions and staffed by the
inventors, giving Walt Disney World guests an opportunity to
interact with product creators.  The expo runs from 9 a.m. to   6
p.m. each day.



     On Sept. 15, a special conference for inventors will feature
sessions on the patent process, marketing, raising venture
capital, selling and licensing products, and speeches by
Commissioner Lehman and Acting Assistant Commissioner for Patents
Edward Kazenske.  The conference will be conducted by the
Intellectual Property Owners (IPO), a non-profit association
whose members are individuals and companies that own patents,
trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.  The conference is not
open to the public.

     "The expo will salute those who have taken the initiative to
invent new and useful products on their own," said
Bruce A. Lehman, assistant secretary of Commerce and Commissioner
of Patents and Trademarks.  "These are the 'mom and pop'
inventors who have seen a need and have had the ingenuity to
create a solution and who, as a result, have contributed greatly
to the economic growth and prosperity of the U.S.."

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