Patent office launches Cancer Moonshot challenge; FedScoop, 8/22/16

Whitney Blair Wyckoff, FedScoop; Patent office launches Cancer Moonshot challenge:

"The Patent and Trademark Office launched a contest Monday that encourages the public to glean new insights about cancer research from the agency’s intellectual property data.

As part of the USPTO Cancer Moonshot Challenge, participants will be tasked with finding ways to link data from the agency’s new Developer Hub portal to other data sets related to research grants and the economy. Organizers hope participants will illuminate trends that will help the federal government make better funding and policy decisions to develop more effective cancer treatments...

The contest is part of a sweeping White House initiative to find new, innovative ways to treat cancer. The USPTO blog post notes the agency “is playing an important role” in the program: Last month, it launched its Patent 4 Patients program to halve the time it takes to evaluate patent applications for cancer therapies.

For the new contest, the patent office will offer an information session on Thursday for those interested in participating."