The startup, Pascal Tags, was founded by J.B. Speed School of Engineering student, Brandon Young, and recent College of Business graduate, Haley Pfeiffer. Young will pitch the company’s  at the competition in November at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Alexandria, Virginia.Ěý 

“For Pascal Tags, I think the opportunity is potentially once in a life time,” Young said. “It is very humbling being the first representative from the state of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.”

He and other collegiate finalists will present their inventions to a panel of judges that includes National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees and USPTO officials and showcase their work at the Collegiate Inventors Competition Expo.

“We will get to present and discuss our technology with very distinguished individuals from the Hall of Fame, compete against other great innovators, and reach an audience most innovators do not have the chance to in college,” Young said.

Pascal Tags, a , has developed smart tags that help track inventory.ĚýYoung invented the technology with his faculty mentor, Dr. Thad Druffel of the UofL Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research.Ěý

The team worked with the UofL to protect and commercialize their intellectual property.ĚýPascal Tags also participated in UofL’s entrepreneurship training and the  site program for translational research.Ěý

“This is great honor and opportunity for Brandon and the University,” Druffel said. “With a good idea and a lot of hard work, Brandon has definitely earned his place among the top collegiate innovators.” 

That was the subject of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s 2018 China IP Road Show, a recent day-long conference held at the University of Louisville.Ěý

The event featured speakers from specialized backgrounds — law, academia, industry, government — who walked attendees through the process of securing,defending and commercializing intellectual property in China.

“Each program seeks to impart information to U.S. innovators and entrepreneurs on protecting their intellectual property while also maximizing its commercial value,” said Conrad Wong, Attorney-Advisor for the China Team at the USPTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs.Ěý

The USPTO worked with with  (OTT) to organize the event, which was held in the downtown Clinical and Translational Research Building. OTT helps protect and commercialize the research done in labs all over campus.

“UofL has a rich history of innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship,” said the office’s director, Dr. Allen Morris, who also spoke at the event. “We are continuing to grow in these efforts.”

UofL has a support system and training turning research into commercializable intellectual property. And, Morris said, UofL is the only university to have a “Superfecta” of , which aim to get innovations developed on-campus to market.

The USPTO has been running its China IP Road Show since 2001 in cities around the U.S. This fiscal year, the office plans to hit 10 cities, both large and small markets.

Wong said they chose to bring the road show to Louisville because of the area’s commercial ties it has to China and the number of successful enterprises here. The city, for example, is home to GE Appliances, which has been part of of .Ěý 

“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is very grateful to the University of Louisville for helping make this China IP Road Show one of our most successful this year,” Wong said. “The University’s personnel were extremely helpful in planning and supporting the program.”

UofL ranked in a five-way tie for No. 97 with 25 patents in fiscal year 2015.

“Belonging to this elite list is yet another affirmation that UofL has made great strides in the innovation arena in the last several years,” said Eugene Krentsel, associate vice president for research and innovation.

The ranking comes from a report published by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO). It utilizes data acquired from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to highlight the important role patents play in university research and innovation.

The NAI and IPO have published the report annually since 2013. The rankings are compiled by calculating the number of utility patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in which the university is the first assignee on the printed patent.

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Photo courtesy of .Ěý