LOT Network Inc. with Amazon, Cruise, The Walt Disney Company, Google, Meta, and Microsoft have partnered to form a new initiative called Advancing Diversity Across Patent Teams (ADAPT) to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues in the IP industry by making resources and programs more accessible to companies of all sizes. The founding companies are members of nonprofit LOT Network, which protects member companies from unwanted patent assertion entity (PAE) litigation. LOT Network also offers a platform upon which initiatives like ADAPT that benefit the intellectual property (IP) industry as a whole are built.
“Great talent and people exist everywhere, but too often opportunity does not. We have to be deliberate in finding, welcoming, including, and recognizing those from underrepresented groups who make us stronger and better,” said Olivia Tsai, Assistant General Counsel and Head of Intellectual Property at Cruise.
ADAPT’s core mission includes three pillars:
- Providing a database with how-to guides on running DEI programs and a directory of volunteer and sponsorship activities of DEI organizations
- Preparing underrepresented IP professionals for success with the ADAPT Mentorship Program
- Sharing knowledge and democratizing DEI analytics as an industry via a technology platform
“ADAPT is formed around a set of key actions for participating organizations, including broadly sharing DEI resources, mentorship, data, and knowledge. Establishing a set of shared priorities will help deliver more meaningful progress, faster,” said Burton Davis, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of the Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft.
ADAPT’s initial launch will focus on the patent industry; however, it plans to broaden its mission to other areas of intellectual property in the future. ADAPT will officially launch on September 28, 2022, at the annual LOT Network BRIDGE member meeting in San Francisco, California. The event will feature a half day of programming, showcasing various DEI nonprofits and opportunities, and premiering ADAPT’s databases and dashboards.
ADAPT welcomes participation from all companies, including companies that are not members of LOT Network. “The IP profession has a duty to meaningfully represent experiences and viewpoints as diverse as the society in which we live. This is what brings out the best in us and is the right thing to do,” said Mike Lee, Head of Patents at Google.
To get involved, please contact info@adapt.legal.
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About LOT Network Inc.: LOT Network is an international, nonprofit community of the world’s leading companies committed to protecting themselves against costly litigation from patent assertion entities (PAEs). LOT Network currently protects more than 2,150 members in 54 countries from PAE litigation for more than 3.5 million worldwide patent assets and counting. Members include market leaders such as Visa, Canon, Airbnb, Coinbase, Tesla, Cisco, Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba, IBM, Toyota, and Salesforce, as well as innovative companies across industries.
About Amazon.com, Inc.: Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
About Cruise LLC: Cruise is building the world’s most advanced self-driving, all electric vehicles to safely connect people with the places, things and experiences they care about.
About Google LLC: Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
About Meta Platforms, Inc.: Meta’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Our products empower more than 3 billion people around the world to share ideas, offer support and make a difference.
About Microsoft Corporation: Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
About The Walt Disney Company: The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes Disney Parks, Experiences and Products; Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution; and four content groups—Studios, General Entertainment, Sports and International—focused on developing and producing content for DTC, theatrical and linear platforms.