SOCORRO, N.M. – The new state-supported Technology Commercialization Accelerator at New Mexico Tech is celebrating World Intellectual Property Day with a series of speakers on entrepreneurialship and innovation.

The online event is free to everyone and will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, April 26. Estefanita Rawlings is the director of the new Technology Commercialization Accelerator. She said the guest speakers will provide educational and inspirational talks on a variety of topics that are germaine to inventors, innovators, and aspiring entrepreneurs.

“These talks will be of interest to any small business or anyone with intellectual property,” Rawlings said. “Since we have an Office of Innovation here at NMT, I hope we get interest from students and professors as well.”

Click here for more information or to register.

Guest speakers include Larry Udell, who has been a key organizer for the Inventors Workshop at NMT for the past four years. He is a serial entrepreneur with decades of successful business and innovation experience.

The event also features four speakers from the U.S. Patent Office. They will offer insight and advice related to

World Intellectual Property Day Celebration

11 a.m. - Welcome

Estefanita Rawlings, NMSBDC TCA Center Director

Estefanita Rawlings is the center director/coordinator for the New Mexico Small Business Development Center’s Technology Commercialization Accelerator (TCA) at New Mexico Tech. As the Center Director, Rawlings works with clients regarding their intellectual property. Along with counseling and educating clients on intellectual property protection, Rawlings has been tasked with the startup of the TCA remote office. Rawlings is a New Mexico Tech alumni with degrees in computer science and mathematics. Prior to coming to NMT, Rawlings worked in the education arena as a senior data analyst and senior programmer analyst for many years.

11:30am Introduction to Intellectual Property

Essama Omgba, Supervisory Patent Examiner

Paola Agudelo, Primary Patent Examiner & Outreach Coordinator

The USPTO will provide an IP overview of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. This presentation will also discuss the patent process from invention, to application and to issue.

See more about Omgba and Agudelo below

12:30pm Intellectual Property Abroad

Hope Shimabuku, Regional Director

The Patent Office will provide a look at how help use your IP abroad in an effort to help protect your brand outside of the United States. See more about Shimabuku below.

1:30pm Cyber Security

Jeff Nickerson, Supervisory Patent Examiner

The Patent Office will provide an overview of cybersecurity and its importance in our ever changing world. See more about Nickerson below.

2:15pm Guest Speaker Professor Lawrence J. Udell,

Better known as Larry Udell has been an active member of www.lesi.org since 1982 and founded the Silicon Valley Chapter in 2000.

Udell is well known as founder and Chairman of the California Invention Center created with federal funds in 1995 at California State University. He has taught courses on New Ventures for over 40 years at universities throughout the United States and in foreign countries for WIPO (United Nations). A member of the Licensing Executives Society since 1982, he founded the Silicon Valley Chapter in 2000, which today is the #1 chapter in LESI 97 countries.

Essama Omgba, Supervisory Patent Examiner 

Essama Omgba is a Supervisory Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office at the Texas Regional Office in Dallas.

Essama joined the United States Patent and Trademark Office in January 1999 in Technology Center 3700 and became a Primary Examiner in 2005. He served on a career development detail as a Trainer at the Patent Training Academy, and became a SPE in January 2017.

Essama graduated from the University of the District of Columbia in Washington DC with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. After Graduating Essama worked for Dwyer Engineering out of Leesburg Virginia as an HVAC Design engineer for commercial buildings and later as a consulting engineer for ANSER, a consulting engineering firm contracted with the US Department of Defense before joining the Patent Office in 1999.

Paola Agudelo, Primary Patent Examiner & Outreach Coordinator

Paola received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from the City College of New York and worked as a structural engineer for a consulting engineering firm in New York City. Moved to Alexandria, Virginia to join the USPTO in 2011 as a Patent Examiner in Art Unit 3633.

Paola became a Primary Examiner in 2017 and moved to Austin, Texas that same year. Paola enjoys hiking and exploring the Texas trails. Also loves traveling with her husband and two children.

Hope Shimabuku, Director of the Texas Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office

As the Director of the Texas Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office, Hope Shimabuku carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the Patent Office, and is responsible for leading the Texas regional office. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Shimabuku ensures the Patent Office’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders. 

Jeff Nickerson, Supervisory Patent Examiner

Jeffrey Nickerson received his B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2007. He joined the Patent Office in June 2007 and examined in the Computer Networks technology area. After becoming a Primary Examiner in June 2012, he served as a TC2400 Trainer and Search Mentor. He became a Supervisory Patent Examiner in October of 2013 and currently supervises an art unit in the cybersecurity area.

He also has roles on the Patent Office Hiring and Recruiting teams, on the Office of Innovation Development and Pro Se Assistance teams, as a PE2E ambassador, as a PTAB technical training liaison, and on the Patents training team. Outside the Patent Office, Jeff has previously served as a private detective in Maryland and volunteered as a suicide hotline counselor in the DC metro area. He enjoys soccer, snowboarding, riding motorcycles, traveling, and training dogs.

For more information, visit the website at https://nmsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/12931