USPTO Announces Winners of Cancer Moonshot Challenge
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced the winners of the USPTO Cancer Moonshot Challenge on September 28, 2016. The contest was launched by the USPTO in August as part of a presidential initiative aimed to accelerate advancements in cancer research, increase availability of cancer therapies to more patients, and improve the ability to prevent cancer and detect it at an early stage. Challenge participants used patent data, released through the USPTO Developer Hub, to reveal new observations in cancer research and treatments to create visualizations and interactive mappings of the intellectual property data, which helped illustrate new trend lines for new insights.
In noting the public’s participation in the challenge, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee said, "I’m inspired by how private companies, universities, institutions and foundations, have all stepped up to collaborate and contribute. By harnessing the power of patent data, we are changing how medical and research data can be shared and used to reach new breakthroughs."
