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US Commerce Department Announces Partnership with Cornell NYC Tech

03-Oct-2012 | Source : | Visits : 9749
WASHINGTON - Today Acting US Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank was joined by Under-Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos and Cornell University President David J. Skorton to announce a groundbreaking agreement between the Commerce Department and Cornell University that will promote growth for American businesses and entrepreneurs. According to the Office, US Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), US Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and New York City Deputy Mayor Robert Steel also participated in the event.

Acting Secretary Blank announced that for the first time, the resources of a US government agency and a major research institution will join forces to give students and researchers at Cornell’s New York City Tech Campus (Cornell NYC Tech) direct access to resources that will help them bring their ideas to market and grow their businesses.

By installing a permanent staff member of the US Commerce Department at Cornell’s NYC Tech campus, the department will be bringing its full suite of resources to the university community, helping connect students, faculty and mentors to early-stage investors, intellectual property strategies, export assistance tools, government grants, and academic partners. The partnership will help Cornell’s new academic institution break down the traditional boundaries that exist between graduate education and the research and development of technology products.

“Staying on the cutting edge of innovation is critical to this nation’s long-term competitiveness, and the Obama administration is committed to ensuring that American entrepreneurs have the resources they need to bring their ideas to market,” said Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank. “The resources we’ll provide at Cornell University’s New York City Tech campus are a natural extension of the Administration’s commitment to removing the barriers that get in the way of more jobs and more innovation. This partnership will serve as an important vehicle for business growth, job creation and economic opportunity, and I am very pleased that the Department of Commerce is a partner in this groundbreaking agreement with Cornell NYC Tech.”

The Department of Commerce, through a Memorandum of Agreement signed by Under Secretary Kappos and President Skorton, will station a USPTO employee on the ground at Cornell NYC Tech. This Innovation and Outreach Coordinator for the greater New York region will help students, researchers, businesses, and regional constituents get access to a broad array of government commercialization resources. With the campus functioning as an interdisciplinary hub of innovation and creativity, this unique public-private partnership will enable the Department and USPTO to offer a one-of-a-kind experience at Cornell NYC Tech, helping businesses cut through red tape and create new economic opportunities.

“By bringing the full suite of our innovation-enabling resources to bear on this campus, we’re not just able to meet the research, development, and commercialization needs of regional enterprises in real time—we’ll also be able to test new ways to move ideas from the lab to the marketplace,” said David Kappos, Director of the USPTO. “This collaboration allows us to optimize intellectual property for the 21st century and further empowers universities to fuel our nation’s innovation ecosystem.”

“This unique partnership between Cornell and the Patent Office will help our city’s exploding tech sector move their innovations from the research lab to the market, and allow the industry to grow the economy and create jobs in a shorter amount of time,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “Creating a direct link between the patent office and inventors is a simple and virtually cost free way to reduce red tape, and help our best and brightest produce the next iPhone or microchip. When all is said and done, New York City will have the only college in the nation where you can get advice on patenting your latest invention between grabbing a sandwich at the dining hall and picking up your laundry, all without leaving campus.”
“This is another step forward for New York City's future,” said US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “The groundbreaking partnership among Cornell University, the Commerce Department, and the US Patent and Trademark Office will help tomorrow's entrepreneurs start innovative new businesses. Arming Cornell grad students with business assistance resources will go a long way towards turning their extraordinary ideas into reality, creating new jobs and growing New York City’s thriving high-tech industry.”

“Cornell NYC Tech has always been envisioned as both a birthplace of new ideas as well as a driver of economic growth,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “This new partnership will help make sure that the new campus becomes both of those things, by creating a close linkage between academics and the real economy. We are all looking forward to seeing innovative new products come to market and create jobs in New York City.”

Cornell University, with its academic partner the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, was selected in December 2011 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to build an applied science and engineering campus in New York City. While currently located in Chelsea, the permanent home of the graduate-level campus will cover a 12-acre site on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan slated to officially open in 2017, with full build out by 2037.

“A key part of Cornell Tech's mission is to encourage innovation and economic development by helping to facilitate all aspects of university, industry, and government collaboration,” said Cornell President David J. Skorton. “This partnership with the Department of Commerce will not only bring a new resource to the campus and to New York's tech entrepreneurs, it will also help create a new dialogue about intellectual property in the information age to help improve the innovation process in the United States.”

The new campus is offering a distinctive model of graduate tech education that fuses educational excellence with real-world commercial applications and entrepreneurship, rooted in the latest academic research. Students, faculty and industry experts will learn and work together to launch ideas and create new ventures that have global impact. The campus will also feature extensive programming for the public—supported by the Department of Commerce—in areas related to multidisciplinary research, industry mentorship opportunities, commercialization strategies, and educational modules in the STEM fields.

According to a recent Commerce Department report, intellectual property-intensive industries supported 40 million jobs in 2010, and contributed $5.06 trillion to the US economy. By providing IP protection and commercialization tools for entrepreneurs, this partnership will drive additional job growth and serve as a forum for exploring ways to balance the free flow of information with the protection of IP in a digital era.

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