North Dakota Inventors, Makers and Entrepreneurs Workshop

Turn your ideas into a business with advice from Mark Radtke, Assistant Regional Director, Rocky Mountain U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well as university and community experts.

10:00 a.m. Welcome and Keynote Address – Patents and Trademarks Demystified

• Mark Radtke, Assistant Regional Director, Rocky Mountain USPTO

11:00 a.m. Panel Discussion – Partnering With or Working for a University; IP and Other Considerations

• Jason Jenkins, UND General Counsel (Moderator)
• Surojit Gupta, Mechanical Engineering
• Tom Erickson, EERC
• Jim Higgins, Aviation

12:00 p.m. Lunch Break – On Your Own

• Convenient dining options are available in the Memorial Union

1:00 p.m. Panel Discussion – Taking Your Idea to Market; Local Resources to Help You Find the Way

• Amy Whitney, UND Center for Innovation (Moderator)
• Greg Syrup, UND Center for Innovation
• Holly Gabriel, Chester Fritz Library Patent and Trademark Resource Center
• Amy Salmela, Attorney and Volunteer, Inventor Assistance Program
• David Martin, North Dakota Small Business Development Center

2:15 p.m. Break

2:30 p.m. Panel Discussion – Funding Your Venture; Options Available in North Dakota

• Ty Zeltinger, Bank of North Dakota (Moderator)
• Tyler Sletten, UND Center for Innovation, SBIR/STTR Federal R&D Grants
• James Leiman, ND Department of Commerce, Research ND and Innovate ND
• Brandon Baumbach, Greater Grand Forks and Region EDC loan programs

3:45 p.m. Closing Remarks

The program is free and open to the public.

Refreshments will be served.

Join us for the day or come and go, as needed. Registration is encouraged, but not required.

Temporary UND visitor parking passes are available for a fee

Keynote Speaker: Mark Radtke, Assistant Regional Director, Rocky Mountain U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Biographical Information:

Mark Radtke joined the USPTO in 2005 after graduating from Boston University with a B.S. in Computer Systems Engineering and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering. He examined patent applications related to databases, file management and data structures until 2012, when he was promoted to Quality Assurance Specialist. In 2011, he led a team that built a new intranet web server system for the office. He spent the winter of 2015 detailed as a Resource Supervisory Patent Examiner to the Midwest Regional Office in Detroit, and then moved to Denver where he trained two classes of new examiners before accepting a permanent position. He was promoted to Assistant Regional Director in 2017, where he works with the Regional Director to carry out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO.

Event Sponsored by: UND Patent & Trademark Resource Center, UND Corporate Engagement and Commercialization, and UND Center for Innovation.