USPTO Resources from the Northwest Frontier Community Engagement Office

Sean Wilkerson is serving as the Acting Community Engagement Office Director of Northwest Frontier Community Engagement Office in Bozeman, MT, for the Office of Public Engagement at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In this role he works closely with USPTO colleagues and leadership, federal agency partners, national organizations, and industry to design and implement programs and initiatives that bring innovation resources to independent inventors, small businesses, entrepreneurs, makers, innovator communities, and universities. Wilkerson uses his experience working across multiple areas of USPTO outreach to consistently contribute to a variety of initiatives across the agency by developing, implementing and collaborating on outreach programming. Wilkerson joined the USPTO in October of 2008, initially serving in the Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) as an education program specialist for international programing and outreach. There, he managed international training programs focused on enforcement of patents, trademarks, and copyrights and the U.S. patent and trademark system, working with USPTO attaches, U.S. embassies, federal agencies, and foreign governments to develop the programs. From 2012-2014, Wilkerson served as program manager for the inaugural Select USA Summit, developing the structure and outreach efforts for this U.S. government-wide program housed in the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He was responsible for creating the approved funding method, operations, and outline to launch and support the program, which still operates today.   Wilkerson worked with the New York engagement team to manage and develop the 2015 Future of Urban Innovation Startups Summit in coordination with Columbia University and the USPTO. He later served in the Office of the Undersecretary as an acting Regional Outreach Officer for the Texas Regional Office to help coordinate the office’s opening and to develop stakeholder connections in the region. He also assisted with the stakeholder activities for the opening of the Silicon Valley Regional Office.   Prior to joining USPTO, Wilkerson served as the Director of Events for the National Association of Homebuilders in Washington, D.C. and as the Ideas Exchange manager for Accenture in Reston, Virginia, where he focused on providing government and military clients with solution-based planning modules to implement changes in operations.