ChIPs is turning 20 this year!
To celebrate, ChIPs will be hosting events, sharing resources, and creating opportunities to connect all year long.
Table of Contents
ChIPs History
Learn more about the past 20 years of ChIPs below.
ChIPs Founded
Julie Mar-Spinola, Mallun Yen, Michelle Lee, Noreen Krall, Emily Ward, Mona Sabet, and Anirma Gupta found ChIPs as a space for women in leadership positions in IP to support and advance one another.
ChIPs Hosts First Global Summit
Our Founders launched the Global Summit in 2011 as a conference for women in IP to connect, network, and learn. 200 women joined us in 2011; today, we have nearly 800 attendees.
Hall of Fame
In 2013, ChIPs establishes the Hall of Fame to honor leaders and inspire the next generation.
Mock Program Begins
In 2014, ChIPs developed the Mock Pitch program to create an opportunity for associates and junior partners to gain real-life experience pitching to clients, a necessary skill to elevate their careers and increase pay equity.
Ginsburgs Inducted to ChIPs Hall of Fame
Supreme Court Justice and trailblazer Ruth Bader Ginsburg was inducted into the ChIPs Hall of Fame along with her husband, Martin “Marty” Ginsburg and daughter, Jane C. Ginsburg.
ChIPs Honor Roll
ChIPs Honor Roll is a joint initiative between ChIPs and Diversity Lab. Honorees are based on findings from Diversity Lab’s Inclusion Blueprint, which provides diversity benchmarks of historically underrepresented groups (female lawyers, underrepresented racial/ethnic lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities) in law firm leadership and across practice groups, including IP.
ChIPs NextGen Summit
In 2018, ChIPs hosts the first NextGen Summit aimed to prepare rising advocates for careers in intellectual property.
ChIPs Launches Scholarship
The ChIPs scholarship program was created in 2018 with a generous contribution from Morrison & Foerster to honor Rachel Krevans, a renowned intellectual property litigator from the firm.
General Counsel Boot Camp
In 2021, ChIPs develops a transformative 12-month program for women in-house attorneys aspiring to become general counsel.
ChIPs USPTO MOU
ChIPs and the USPTO signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to work together to advance women inventors and innovators. As part of this, ChIPs and USPTO are providing Innovation Resources, as we continue to aggregate research and reports on innovation and inclusion, including guidebooks to Best Practices and Mentoring.
Ketanji Brown Jackson Speaks with ChIPs
ChIPs hosts Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to speak on her life and career at the 2024 Global Summit
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Women, Inventors of Color, & Patents
DEI & Patent History in the U.S.
Congress passed the first patent statute in U.S. history on April 10. After the passage of the act, the first Patent Board, made up of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph, began examining patents.
The first U.S. patent was granted to Samuel Hopkins for a process of making potash, an ingredient used in fertilizer on July 31. President George Washington signed the first patent.
First women to apply and receive a U.S. Patent in her own name. Mary Dixon Kies creates a process for weaving straw with silk that was adopted by the New England hat-making industry.
U.S. patent no. 1 was granted to Senator John Ruggles for a traction wheel for steam locomotives on July 13. The 9,957 patents granted before the numbering system are now known as the X-patents.
Clara Barton starts work as a clerk at the Patent Office. She is paid equal wages for her work, but faces discrimination from her male coworkers and eventually loses her job. She was later rehired during the Lincoln administration and goes on to blaze trails as a relief worker during and after the Civil War.
After the 14th Amendment was passed in 1868, African Americans were able to gain citizenship and patenting activity increased significantly
The first female patent examiner, Anne Freeman, is hired by the Patent Office.
Charlotte Smith publishes "Women Inventors to Whom Patents Have Been Granted," outlining the comparatively small number of patents obtained by women. Smith was an economic feminist concerned with women's ability to earn income for themselves.
Harriet R. Tracy is awarded 16 patents, and sells her inventions at the Chicago World's Fair.
From 1882 to 1940, extrajudicial killings and loss of personal security depressed patent activity among Black people by more than 15% annually.
Sara E. Goode, a Chicago furniture store owner, created a "folding cabinet bed" much like a modern day sofa bed. Goode was one of the smaller number of African American women to patent their inventions.
Josephine Cochrane invents the dishwasher.
The first brassiere is invented by Mary Phelps Jacob.
Disposable diapers are invented, highlighting women's need for inventions serving home labor, and the exclusion of women from public labor fields.
Women make up 22% of names on patent applications.
As of 2022, more patent examiners are named "Michael" than there are women of color as a whole.