A conversation with Laura Peter ’86, U.S. Trademark and Patent Office deputy director

While women remain underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, Cornell Engineering and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are two organizations working for equality.

Laura Peter ‘86, deputy undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and deputy director of the USPTO, took some time to speak with Andrea Ippolito ’06, M.Eng. ’07, Cornell lecturer in engineering management and director of the Women Entrepreneurs program, about inequality in science and engineering, navigating the patent process, and their shared love of aerospace engineering. Audio and an abbreviated transcript can be found in the spotlight section.

Peter: Thank you so much for having me here today. And I'm delighted to be able to chat with my fellow Cornell alum, very near and dear to my heart, always. Just a little bit about me. I grew up in Santa Monica, California. My dad was an engineer, went to MIT and worked for Hughes Aircraft Company. So I kind of grew up around technology and patents and licensing along the way. I went off to Cornell University as an undergrad because my dad said I needed to have a good Eastern education and worked my way through that. I was always very interested in technology and policy, went on to the University of Chicago to do a public policy degree, and then a law degree and then went off to London to do a masters of law. After that, I went into the private world. I practiced as a litigator. I went in house because I really loved working with inventors. And then I kind of came complete circle back to my policy roots and ended up here at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Ippolito: Wonderful, and as someone who worked in government and as an engineer, just hearing about your background is so inspiring and I’m just so thrilled to be having a conversation with you today.

Peter: Thank you.

Ippolito: So my name is Andrea Ippolito, and I'm a lecturer here within the College of Engineering at Cornell University. I also went to Cornell as an undergrad and majored in biological and environmental engineering and stayed for a master's in biomedical engineering, where I then went on to be a scientist at a medical device company called Boston Scientific. And after that, I went to MIT for grad school, where I was studying system design and management where we looked at the impact of technology and the surrounding socio technical systems that that technology lived in. And out of that I cofounded a company called Smart Scheduling that predicted no shows that later got sold to a company called Athena Health. And then I went back to MIT to start my Ph.D., but I decided to leave to go work in government as a Presidential Innovation Fellow based out of the White House Office of Science and Tech Policy, where my appointment was at the Department of Veterans Affairs. And I led an innovation initiative called the Innovators Network, to help create a pathway for VA employees to create new innovations to better serve veterans and their families. And then I was lucky to come and join the faculty as a lecture within the College of Engineering. So very honored to be here today.

So the first question that I have for you, Deputy Director Peter is, from your perspective, why is the underrepresentation of women in science and innovation a problem?

Peter: So it's a big problem. You know, the United States was founded with intellectual property in mind at its core. In the Constitution, intellectual property – the rights of inventors and authors – is called out in Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution. In our whole economy, our whole essence, has its roots in that and has grown and prospered over the last 250 years due to our interest and value in intellectual property. For much of that time, women have not been a participant in the workforce, but now they are more and more. As the U.S. is a leader in the global economy, it is essential that we put all hands to work, get all hands on deck to push forward the innovation in America so that we maintain our leadership in the global community. And there was a recent Harvard study that said if underrepresented people from underrepresented communities, such as women, veterans, and people from other underrepresented communities were to participate in the innovation economy, we could quadruple the economy. So this is the real power that we hold, and that’s why women should become more engaged in contributing to innovation in America.

Ippolito: Wow, couldn't agree more. And it's just so wonderful seeing someone like yourself that's in a leadership role to speak about this as a role model for future women. So I completely agree with your comments and under representation of women in science is an issue because we know that gender diversity helps drive so much innovation and we know from research that diverse teams are more effective at everything from problem solving, bringing different life experiences and expertise to the table, and we know that diversity within an organization or team, including gender diversity, is associated with productivity and creativity and organizational sales and profits. And so bringing gender diversity up in all realms of the innovation spectrum is good for companies, it's good for organizations, and it's good for customers, because then they can design better products that are using empathy so that it's being able to be tailored to all populations. And I think there's been tremendous gains that girls and women have in education in the workforce over the past 50 years, but it's still not at the levels as it should be.

Peter: And it's true, and I'll comment on that, you know, I had the privilege of listening to Judge Pauline Newman at a women's event here sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office a few months ago, and she was saying that during World War II – when she was a very young woman, she got her Ph.D. in chemistry then and she was a pilot and all kinds of amazing things – that there was not the barriers to women in the war because you literally did need all hands on deck to push the ball forward. And so there were many, many women that went into the professional fields. And then over time, as the economy boomed and we had peace time, that fell off, and so how do we inspire women and encourage women to take that step not only for the benefit of the community, like you're saying, which is so very, very important, and bring their contributions in, but also for their own self-actualization and for moving their own minds and self-achievement forward? I think that's hugely important.

Ippolito: I love that example because it shows that we're all in it together and also your comments about from an economic perspective, let's do more to engage women to speed up our innovation rate so that we can have this thriving American economy because right now we're not engaging close to half the population. And so just think of the innovation levels that we’ll have once we do a better job of engaging more women as part of this innovation journey so that we can be competitive in the global economy.

Peter: Absolutely. And I am sure you know these statistics, but I'm not sure our fellow listeners do, that in the United States, while women comprise about half of the general workforce. They only comprise about 25% of the STEM workforce. And of course, stem is science, technology, engineering and math. So they're already not participating at those kinds of levels. And they should be because their contributions are so important.

Ippolito: Absolutely. And what can organizations specifically do to help with the challenges women face in these fields and close that gender gap and innovation?

Peter: So I think there are many things they can do. When we talk about organizations such as universities and government and industry as kind of big blocks with different motivations, I think it's so important that they actually collaborate and work together. There's the trifecta of industry, academia and government. Industry, you know, is out there actually engaging in the workforce or gauging the workforce to build products. So they're probably the most important driver of the economy. The government can create different policies to encourage women and other underrepresented communities to participate in that workforce, and also provide a lot of outreach and education as to the benefits. And then of course, academia is so important to provide the nurturing from the lowest grades of kindergarten, up through grade school and then into college to build the workforce so that it can actually engage in industry.

Ippolito: Absolutely. And I also think coupled with all of that is to create role models and so that people can see someone going before them that has proceeded through that pathway that they can reach out to for help or just understand what that process looks like.

Peter: It's very important that there are role models available and also to step up to the plate and be a role model and be a mentor and that's one thing that, you know, I try to do I'm I know you try to do is to be present and visible for other young women so they know it's possible. One other thing that we're actually doing here at the USPTO, we have many, many programs to try and support women entering the STEM workforce. But specifically targeted toward college students is we have the Collegiate Inventors Competition. And it's actually coming up our big award program this coming week. And that's a program where undergraduates and graduate students apply for a national award, and can be awarded a good deal of money for their achievements. And they're judged and get to interact with National Inventor Hall of Fame Inductees. These are the best innovators America has to offer, who helped mentor them and guide them. So I think another thing we can do is not only encourage our students to participate in these kinds of programs, but also give them these opportunities to engage with super high-level inventors like those at the National Inventors Hall of Fame. And I should mention that I'm slightly disappointed that there's no Cornell participation in this year's event. And I hope we can change that next year.

Ippolito: I like that personal challenge and charge. We’ll go to the Center for Technology Licensing here because, oh my gosh, we have to be a part of that. Go Big Red! Especially with a role model at the top of the organization like you.

Peter: Thank you. Yeah.

Ippolito: Well, and it brings up an interesting point on exposure and role models and how we talk about innovation. And there was this great research done out of NYU by Professor Marjorie Rhodes, and she looked at how we describe science and innovation with girls and women, and in particular with the young girls, she did this study, where they looked at the impact of their phrasing. And she found that if you define things in terms of action instead of identity that you got more female participation. So one example was with science. When they said things like ‘come participate in science,’ then they got a much higher level of adoption of girls pursuing the program than if they said, ‘come be a scientist.’ And it got me reflecting about my experience as an engineer or engaging with the patenting process, if you said, ‘come invent something’ versus ‘come be an inventor,’ there's these subtle language changes that you can make that have been shown to increase the number of people that are pursuing these pathways. And so it's forced me to be a lot more reflective within our programs here at Cornell and, and in programs that are just happening across the innovation ecosystem.

Peter: And so you know, this is so interesting, I have not heard about that study before and I would be grateful if you can make that available on your website or something so that folks can look at it because one of the challenges that we face here as well, is that I just quoted the statistics that women comprise about 25% of the workforce, and we did a study here called Progress and Potential, which showed in 2016, the number of women inventors is half of that, it's 12%. So why is there such a drop in the number of women participating in inventorship teams? And there may be many reasons and I'm happy to explore those with you, but part of it that I have learned is the culture. Women do not engage in the inventorship and in the patenting process in the same way as men. I was visiting a big high tech company, and these women told me, you know, their disclosure process was like Shark Tank, where you went into a room and you were bombarded with questions by all these really high, powerful executives and you were expected to the defend yourself. And that's how you were put up to get a patent. And these women were intimidated by that versus more of a collaborative, conversational disclosure process which may be more culturally attuned to the way women react and can discuss science.

Ippolito: It's interesting, the structures have been set up and designed around the needs of men and that relentlessly direct approach – like you said, that Shark Tank style approach – but hasn't been designed for women and making it inclusive and creating a pathway for them to be involved. That's so interesting. I was just listening to an interview with Katherine Zaleski from an organization called PowerToFly, and she found that women that were engaging in the job recruiting process, that she said that exact same thing that it was very much built around the male paradigm, and that 60% of women said they wouldn't apply to a job if they didn't meet 100% of the criteria. And it's not that women lack the confidence, it's that when they did a follow up survey, just that they didn't think it was worth their time, if they didn't meet 100% of the qualification.

Peter: I also think that women have a perfectionist complex. And I remember this as a student and you know, either you can tough it out and make it or you can't. But there was always this idea that if I don't get an A, that means I can't do it. I'm going to throw up my hands and walk away. Whereas most of the guys were like, ‘get a C, eh, whatever, go on go to another course.’ So I wonder how much of it is our own culture to that stop women from participating and taking the chance and sticking it out to go to the next step?

Ippolito: I love that. And how do we create infrastructures that promote that and it's okay to fail and try it on for size because then you learn the process and then the next time you'll be that much more qualified in or more ready, not necessarily more qualified to apply.

Peter: And it's not only failing, it's just sticking with it. You don't have to be the valedictorian all the time in order to be successful at something over time. You can stay with it, you know, be solid in what you do. And that is just okay. Eventually you may find your path to be the valedictorian in another way. I think women that I have met have had a little bit of a hard time with that as well.

Ippolito: I agree and we want to get it right. And speaking of your undergraduate experience here at Cornell, right now, Cornell's undergraduate engineering class is 50% woman, so we’re at gender parity, compared to 22% in 1982 when you started at Cornell, and this is quite rare in STEM based colleges, but especially in engineering.

Peter: It is so exciting. I am so excited and happy that Cornell has really taken a leadership role in promoting women. In my day, the engineering program was four years and I believe now it's either an option to extend to five or it is five, I don't know. But I think that has helped a lot to take the pressure off. It was so much pressure. And I, when I was in Cornell, I lived in the Holland International Living Center and there were a lot of non-engineers there. And that made it much more fun with me because the engineers were wonderful, wonderful people, but sometimes it's nice to have a little bit of diversity and variety.

Ippolito: Absolutely. And that exposure and that environment, like you were speaking about earlier, Cornell has definitely come a long way. And what's been great from Cornell, though, from the beginning, is that it had this vision of any person any study, which in 1865, you know, on the heels of the Civil War, was quite a revolutionary thing to say at the time. And I think the fact that we're at gender parity with the College of Engineering just speaks to that original mission and vision that the university had. And I think there's been a lot of organizations along the way that have contributed to that – so it definitely didn't happen overnight – like the Society of Women Engineers, the Association for Women in Science, and we have a program here at Cornell called WE Cornell, or Woman Entrepreneurs of Cornell, to create an on ramp for women to pursue this innovation pathway with entrepreneurship and patenting, and in getting involved in this community and this ecosystem.

Peter: It is so important, and you did remind me of the motto. It's always been in my consciousness, but I hadn't thought about it in a while. And I think here at the USPTO, too, it really rings strongly, because one of the messages we're driving is that innovation is the great equalizer. And part of our job at the USPTO is to make sure that every person has the opportunity to become an inventor and to get a patent if they've done the work to do it, and that was always the value driven at Cornell. And so I'm I guess I'm carrying the flag on in a different way. So I'm proud to do that.

Ippolito: And you bring up your work at the USPTO and a majority of USPTO’s 13,000 employees have degrees in STEM fields, which is phenomenal. And so can you speak a little bit more about what USPTO does to support woman employees and foster diversity in the workplace?

Peter: Well, we do. So we are a government agency, of course, but we're probably one of the government agencies most akin to a private industry in that we are totally fee funded. So, the patent fees and trademark fees for registration and application and that's all we get to spend, we get no appropriations. But given that we're under that government umbrella, we have a little bit more flexibility to introduce programs that are more friendly toward families and that includes women with families. We have spearheaded telework. We are one of the biggest teleworking agencies in the United States government so that you have some flexibility to work out of your home. We also have wonderful family leave programs and those kinds of things. We have many, many affinity groups we call them. These are community organizations with a particular focus. So we have a women engineer affinity group, we have Black Society of Engineer affinity group, certain ethnic affinity groups, and they help give support to people in the community so that they can keep on going and participate. As far as our executive team, we have a tremendous number of executives and have made a conscious effort to make sure we have diversity of executives in the USPTO and we're at about 40% of women employees who are executives. Patent examiners we have about 28%, about a third of the patent examiners are women. Trademarks is about two-thirds women. So that is hugely important. And I think that our systems and policies and infrastructures has helped encourage women not only to enter the PTO, but also to stay here. And we have less than 5% attrition for all employees after they've stayed here for about 12 years compared to about half of the women in other fields leave after 12 years. So we're really proud of what we do, but we put a lot of work into it to listen and make things more convenient and agreeable for women to stay.

Ippolito: Thanks so much for sharing that and I think it goes back to your early comments about culture and that culture isn’t just about pingpong tables and having free coffee like sometimes you see in companies, it's so much more than that. It's about creating these flexible schedules, creating these remote work environments, allowing parents, not just women, but men and women to adapt their schedules so that they can create these environments that both have a family but also contribute to the best of their ability at work. And so the USPTO is a leader in that and in the government, but also is a role model for industry as well. So thanks so much for sharing your practices with us.

Peter: Thank you, my pleasure. And so I came from Silicon Valley before here. I've been here one year now and of course it's a very, very different environment there. And I remember, you know, I used to run IP programs to help develop intellectual property and patenting portfolios and I would go down to a sea of gentlemen engineers, very often with almost no women could be found. So it's refreshing for me to come here. Another thing different in Silicon Valley that strikes me is that it was a very mobile workforce in the sense that nobody stayed in any one job for very long. I mean, five years was considered long. Here at the patent office, it's amazing to me, if you're here 10 years, you're a newbie. People are here 20 years and 30 years. So the community here, the USPTO has made it an interesting place for people to stay and do their work and have their families and have opportunities to grow within the PTO. That I think is extremely unique.

Ippolito: That is extremely unique in this day and age. I think I saw a study that the average tenure right now is around 2.9 or three years at any organization.

Peter: That sounds right. Thirty years? Did you start when you were five?

Ippolito: Well, you mentioned earlier about your dad. So I'd love to hear more about where your interest in STEM originated from.

Peter: So my dad was with Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles and that was a big aerospace space company in the day, before aerospace imploded in the 90s. And so I was exposed to technology at an early age. And when I was about three, they were launching the first geosynchronous satellites into orbit around Earth. And I was fascinated and I was going to become an astronaut. Well, that didn't quite work out because I didn't really like heights. But I did love math, and I love science and that was cultivated throughout my early years and I think that was the springboard for me to go to Cornell engineering school and stick with it because of my love of it. He's been in the face of, you know, daunting and rigorous academic programs. So that was kind of how I got there, but I knew I was never going to be a full-time engineer. And that's why I went on to the policy. I always thought that technology needed to have a better home and understanding and government, and that kind of led me on my path.

Ippolito: We have a phenomenal amount in common, Deputy Director, because my father is also an engineer. My mom is an electrical engineer. And they are both in the aerospace field as well, and they actually met through the space program.

Peter: Oh, how cool.

Ippolito: And I actually named my daughter after an astronaut, Mae Jemison. So we have a lot to talk about offline about being an astronaut enthusiasts. And I also applied and had no chance of getting in as well, because I couldn't do a pull up and I don't think I could have passed the physical challenges, although I'm working towards it. But having those role models, like your dad and my parents that were in engineering is so important. And I see that with engineering and I also see that with the patenting process as well. I was just speaking with a student right before this conversation, and they're in the process of applying for a patent. And they're looking for role models, people to talk with that have gone through that process. And I think it speaks to, how can we create better pathways for all of the innovation process, including the patenting process so that there are role models to help people navigate this and we obviously were very lucky to have that with our parents.

Peter: Absolutely we were, but what we also experienced – I don't know that it can be replicated, but something that's so important is to get little kids engaged in science and technology at an early age. The National Inventors Hall of Fame that the USPTO has a strong relationship with and works with often sponsors a program called Camp Invention. And they go out to different schools, mostly elementary schools, and I think they do after school programs, but they also do a fabulous summer program where these little kids get four to six weeks of building an invention of some sort and working as a team, boys and girls, all different ages. And I went to one this summer and I had a 10-year-old explaining to me what a patent was and he was right, he was really, really good. So I think that there are ways to expose young people at an early age to this kind of strong technology and science culture, even if their parents didn't come from that background as yours and mine did, which we were so fortunate for. And then the other thing I would say to go off on the other tangent about your student, we need to find a better way, we the USPTO and academia and industry, need to find a better way to demystify the patent process. It is really, really hard to be an inventor. It shouldn't be that hard to get a patent or at least to go through the process. So the USPTO, we're exploring ways to try and bring that kind of simplified understanding to engineers so then they can go, you know, work with their counsel or work with their academic institution, and not be afraid of the process.

Ippolito: Well, that's great to hear, and it takes a strong leader to spearhead that effort and I have no doubt that the USPTO will be able to accomplish that challenge. As someone who came from government, it's just wonderful to hear because the government serves everyone in the United States and the fact that you're taking that on as a strategic priority is so important. And so one other question I have for you is, what advice would you give to women today who are interested in pursuing a career – whether it's scientific research or invention – how do they get started on this process?

Peter: So, it's more spiritual advice that I would give. The overarching advice is: be in the room. Be in the room when decisions are being made, be in the room listening, be in the room learning, see and be seen, that's the most important. And how do you do that? Well, you've got to make sure that you're qualified to be in the room. So you've got to get your education, you need to make sure you stick with the Cornell engineering program and make it through all of those really hard courses. You need to get your degree and advanced degree so you're eligible to be in the room. And what else do you need to do? You need to make sure you're not taken out of the room. For whatever reason, we live in a culture where it's still very interpersonal and, you know, people may not like – the old saying is people may not like the color of your tie, or in this case, the color of your dress or whatever it may be, you need to make sure that you are a good team player and that you can stay in the room. And then you wait and you find your moment. And it may be that you mature, it may be that they mature, but if you're in the room, at least you have the opportunity. So that's my advice.

Ippolito: I think that's fantastic advice and it also builds on what you said about earlier, is that if you're in the room, you're starting on this pathway, then as an engineer or as an inventor, you can do just about anything. So in looking at your career, you got these incredible technical skills from your engineering degree, and then you went into patent law. And as an engineer, you can go into the biomedical space, you can go into consulting, you can go into government and policy work.

Peter: You can go into law. It opens up so many doors for you and you choose and the world chooses you. It's mutual, right? So, but at least if you have the credentials, then you have more opportunities. What is the saying? Luck favors the prepared. So be prepared.

Ippolito: And with an engineering degree, you're setting yourself up for that success to tackle any of these challenges, whether it's getting the first human, hopefully a woman, to Mars or tackling challenges in health care or climate change, whatever that might be. So being an engineer sets you on that pathway.

Peter: I'll add that being a woman engineer from Cornell means something. It is one of the best engineering universities in the entire world and if you can get that credential under your belt, you're so much further ahead. And that's a great blessing. So don't throw that away.

Ippolito: Well, I can't think of any better closing comments. This has been a true honor and pleasure, Deputy Director Peter, just to have this conversation on such an important topic and hear about the incredible work of USPTO and learn more about your background because you are such a role model for girls and women that are interested in being mentors and in pursuing STEM fields more broadly. So thank you so much for your time.

Peter: It's absolutely my treat and I have a great love for Cornell and everything that it has done for me. And so I just am looking forward to the next generation of Cornell women engineers to take over the world.

Ippolito: And we're going to win that Collegiate Inventors Competition next year.

Peter: I’m looking forward to that, indeed. Thank you.