RINO: Tillis Sponsors Legislation to Close ‘Gender Patent Gap’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One of the Swamp’s proudest RINOs is at it again. Sen. Thom Tillis (RINO-NC) is racing across the aisle to introduce legislation aimed at bringing equity to the U.S. Patent Office because, true to form, he thinks the ‘underrepresentation’ of women earning patents demands action from Big Government.

From the senator’s website:

“Yesterday, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), and Congressman Steve Stivers (R-OH) introduced bicameral, bipartisan legislation to help close the gap faced by women, minorities, and others when it comes to procuring patent rights in the United States.

The Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement (IDEA) Act of 2019 would close these gaps by directing the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to collect demographic data – including gender, race, military or veteran status, and income level, among others – from patent applicants on a voluntary basis. It further requires the USPTO to issue reports on the data collected and make the data available to the public, thereby allowing outside researchers to conduct their own analyses and offer insights into the various patent gaps in our society.

“As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, we recently held a hearing on the underrepresentation of women and minority inventors applying for patents in the United States,” Senator Tillis said. “Women and minority inventors have made some of the most significant inventions in this country’s history, yet a recent USPTO study found that only 21 percent of all U.S. patents list a woman as an inventor and that women only make up 12 percent of all inventors. We must work to close this gap to ensure all Americans have the opportunity to innovate, and I am proud to introduce this bipartisan, bicameral legislation to get a better understanding of the background of individuals who apply for patents with the USPTO.”

Is it really the role of government to concern itself with which genders are earning patents? Is a patent made better, is our aggregate level of innovation improved, simply by pushing for gender/race/socioeconomic equity in inventing things?

Progressives certainly think so, and Tillis is right there with them. They evidently think diversity is an end worth expanding government for.

““The Innovation Alliance commends Representatives Velazquez and Stivers and Senators Tillis and Hirono for introducing the IDEA Act in both the Senate and House. This legislation takes critical steps needed to improve diversity in patenting, which will help in promoting American innovation and competitiveness. We urge Congress to take up and pass the IDEA Act as soon as possible,” Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper said.

Studies show that women, minorities, and economically disadvantaged individuals apply for and obtain patents at significantly lower rates than their male, white, and wealthier counterparts. Only 21 percent of U.S. patents list at least one woman as an inventor. African American and Hispanic college graduates apply for patents at approximately half the rate of their white counterparts. Additionally, children born to families with incomes below the U.S. median income receive patents at less than ten percent the rate of children born to families in the top one percent.”

Maybe, just maybe, Tillis and his social justice friends could take action that actually expands the freedom requisite for parents to capitalize on educational choice and customization. That way boys and girls, black or white, rich or poor, can pursue their actual interests and maximize their potential in that pursuit.

Of course, expanding freedom is anathema to expanding government data-tracking and forced equity. After all, the supposed inequities could very well persist if people are left to pursue their own happiness, so the government must step in to tell them what they really want.

Tillis campaigned in 2014 as a conservative; he is now busy aligning himself with President Trump to fend off a conservative primary challenge; and, he has all the while provided example after example of how he is nothing of the sort. He’s a creature of the Swamp, often buying into to the Left’s narratives to carry favor with the “independents” he thinks will win him reelection. The result? He’s the least popular senator in the entire country.

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