Working on and around Capitol Hill, you can become jaded: It is the gridlock, the nasty politics, the backstabbing, the daily grind, and even the parking tickets that seem to come with the job. But then, there are days like last Thursday. The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office visited my daughter’s kindergarten class in Burke, Va.
Days like that day make all of that worth it.
Director Andrei Iancu started his job just over a year ago, and he has done an amazing job of reaching out to inventors. When he first took the office he met with everyone — and I mean everyone. I think that I was invited to three different meetings with the director. He has met with large corporations and the individual that invented Bunch-o-Balloons. He met with industry leaders and trade organizations, as well as independent inventor organizations. Even today, he still has an open door to hear from companies and from inventors to let them know that he supports them and wants their input.
This country was built by innovation. When we talk about our nation’s history, some of the biggest names that come to mind are the inventors that shaped the world that we live in. There have been men and women. There have been rich and poor inventors. There have been inventors of all backgrounds, races, sexes, and religions. Invention isn’t a partisan issue; it is truly an integral part of who we are as a nation.
Before taking over the Patent Office, Iancu practiced law with a focus on intellectual property. He understands the system, understands the law, and understands inventors. He was also an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company. His career proves that he is knowledgeable of the system, but for me, the most important thing he has done with his new position is to make a concerted effort to celebrate inventors — and inspire.
I have three daughters, and my wife and I try to teach each of them to be innovative, to solve problems when they encounter them, and to think like an entrepreneur. I think that we have done at least an alright job. But it is always helpful to have others help out and teach them that not only is innovation good, but that innovation is possible.
He did that on Thursday.
After he made his entrance to the elementary school and was greeted by a welcoming party of well-dressed kindergarteners presenting tiny hands for handshakes, he stood next to a few representatives from the school and me for a moment while the grade settled into their spots ready to present their inventions and prototypes. He looked around the room, asked some questions about their preparation for the event, and then started slowly moving around the room. He took his time with each of the kids asking about their invention, their prototype, and the problem that they solved.
There was a dog groomer that the student wanted to sell at Starbucks because that is where people that get their dogs groomed go. There was a tube feeder that would allow zookeepers to stay at a safe distance, and my daughter’s invention of handcuffs with cups to keep a criminals hands away from the locks and play things (like a cat toy) to keep one hand busy while the officer puts the other hand in the cuffs. The kids were inventive, and you could tell that Iancu loved seeing the inventive spark in their eyes.
So, from someone that has paid more parking tickets than I care to think about, from someone that has been playing the tough mind games on and around Capitol Hill for more than a decade, from someone that has watched bureaucrats merely sit at their desks: I want to thank the director and his staff for taking time away from their daily grind to visit a small elementary school in the suburbs to inspire the next generation of inventors.
If we want to stay competitive in world, it is these tiny kids, in their tiny suits and dresses, that are going to do the big things that continue driving us ahead.
Charles Sauer (@CharlesSauer) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is president of the Market Institute and previously worked on Capitol Hill, for a governor, and for an academic think tank.
