The Small Business Watchdog

What will the technological breakthroughs of 2062 look like? No one knows. What we do know, however, is that today’s innovation and entrepreneurship will be their foundation.
This was one of my takeaways from the Office of Advocacy’s symposium marking the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair of 1962. A close second was a better [...]

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“The mission of Advocacy’s Office of Economic Research is to conduct, sponsor, and promote economic research that provides an environment for small business growth.”
The Office of Advocacy recently awarded seven research contracts using fiscal year 2012 funds. The awards are listed in the table on this page. The topics include research into how and why [...]

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that is extending the public comment period for its proposed rules implementing the first-inventor-to-file (FITF) provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA).  The USPTO has received several requests for additional time to submit comments.  Therefore, the USPTO is reopening the comment period to provide interested members [...]

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On September 27th, Chief Counsel for Advocacy Winslow Sargeant and I had the opportunity to visit with the founders of the Jerome Brown Barbecue Sauce Company in Jacksonville, Florida. Jerome, JoAnn, and Katrina Brown welcomed Dr. Sargeant and me to their new 36,000 square foot manufacturing facility. Their new expanded home allows them to manufacture, [...]

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An energetic group of entrepreneurs participated—on stage, in the audience, and online—at Advocacy’s Seattle conference on September 19. The first panel focused on “Small Business Innovators: The Public-Private Relationship.” Moderator Jonathan Sposato noted that in the course of creating their businesses, the entrepreneurs on the panel ran into some issues and looked elsewhere for help.
As I watched [...]

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