Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) is asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study ways that small businesses and entrepreneurs can better access resources to obtain intellectual property protections.
“Intellectual property plays an important role in protecting the new and innovative ideas that drive our nation’s economy,” Chabot, chairman of the House Small Business Committee, wrote to Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the GAO. “This is no less true for our nation’s small businesses and entrepreneurs that are responsible for creating almost two-thirds of the new jobs over the last two decades.”
While there are federal resources available to help entrepreneurs and small businesses obtain intellectual property protections, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Pro Se Assistance program, Chabot said it’s not clear to what extent small businesses are aware of and take advantage of these resources.
The House Small Business Committee held a hearing this past May to look at how small business owners can safeguard their work through intellectual property protections. Then in July of this year, the committee held a hearing to examine the issues small business owners in the digital technology industry face when navigating the intellectual property process and how they use intellectual property to help their business.