Have you ever wondered just what kind of impact intellectual property (IP) has on your local community? How many jobs are created by IP? Is your community manufacturing these inventions and exporting them? Me too! I was also curious about the monetary influence patents, trademarks, and copyrights have right here in my backyard. So, I decided to do some research, a.k.a. web surfing. I live in Oklahoma and that is the “backyard” I was curious about. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s report “IP Creates Jobs for Oklahoma”, the impact is significant! For instance, did you know that in the state of Oklahoma, intellectual property supports 38% of the private sector jobs, of which 15% are directly related to IP while the remaining 23% are indirectly associated to IP? When you consider that in order to acquire a patent, an inventor must go through a sometimes lengthy evaluation process before he/she receives a patent, these statistics are remarkable. You may not know it, but Oklahomans are doing a fantastic job of creating products and distributing them to the people and companies who need them. In fact, out of the $6.21 billion of total exports in Oklahoma, $4.64 are IP exports. If you are interested in more information on how intellectual property impacts Oklahoma or any other state, visit the website www.IPcreatesjobs.com and plug in your “backyard.”
Here are a few more exciting statistics:
According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Calendar Year Patent Statistics for metropolitan and micropolitan communities:
• Oklahoma City ranked 89th in the United States for utility patents awarded in the period from January 1, 2010 to December 31st, 2010.• Tulsa came in close behind OKC at 93rd with 615 utility patents awarded.• For micropolitan communities, Duncan, Oklahoma was number one in the United States with 552 patents awarded in the same time period.
You can find this information and MUCH more just by visiting www.uspto.gov. So, next time your curiosity gets the better of you, do what I did and start surfing!!
