Guest blog post by Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank

As part of our ongoing efforts to make government more accountable to the American people and cut wasteful spending, this afternoon I had the honor of swearing in nine new administrative patent judges who will help reduce patent backlogs. These nine talented and dynamic individuals will serve on the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), joining the dedicated public servants at USPTO who support millions of jobs in the intellectual property industry.

Today, a high share of companies regularly relying on robust intellectual property (IP) protections to attract investor capital and stay competitive. These IP-intensive firms create an average of three million U.S. jobs per year. More than ever, we must be efficient and effective in helping entrepreneurs protect their intellectual property.

America’s entrepreneurs are the primary source of new ideas that drive innovation. Entrepreneurs provide us with better production processes, new advances in health, and improved consumer products. These are people who can move from ideas to products and from products to the marketplace. These activities strengthen our economy and our global competitiveness. And they create jobs.

Commerce Secretary John Bryson spoke today at the U.S.-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in Los Angeles, highlighting ways the U.S. and China can cooperate to establish a level playing field, generate economic growth and create good jobs. In his remarks, he addressed the need to achieve balanced trade growth and increase U.S. exports to China.

Bryson also highlighted the progress of President Obama’s SelectUSA initiative, led by the Commerce Department, which is designed to help businesses from around the world, including China, make direct investments in the U.S. and create jobs for American workers.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, California Governor Jerry Brown, and Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sánchez also spoke. Vice President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China was the keynote for the event.

The forum was part of Vice President Xi’s week-long visit to the U.S., the second of the planned reciprocal visits between the Vice Presidents announced by President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao during the latter’s state visit to Washington last year.

Also today, President Obama announced new steps aimed at promoting American manufacturing and increasing U.S. exports to help U.S. companies build things here and sell them everywhere.  

In case you missed it, you can read an op-ed published today by Secretary Bryson highlighting the fact that American manufacturing and exporting are showing signs of growth, and how the president and the Commerce Department are helping to build on this progress and create an economy that's built to last.

Guest blog post by Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale, Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services, International Trade Administration

This week I’m in Singapore leading a delegation of fifteen small and medium sized U.S. aerospace companies to the 2012 Singapore Air Show. The delegation is part of the overall presence of U.S. companies at the U.S. International Pavilion, which this year featured more than 70 companies, 27 of whom are first time exhibitors. In total, more than 170 U.S. companies are exhibiting at the air show, which is Asia’s largest aerospace and defense event and one of the top three air shows in the world.

One of the highlights of my trip was witnessing a signing ceremony between Boeing and Indonesia’s Lion Air. Lion Air has agreed to buy 230 new 737-model aircraft from Boeing, valued at $21.7 billion, making it the largest commercial deal in company history. The sale is estimated to support 110,000 industrial jobs in the U.S.

President Obama recently laid out plans in his State of the Union address to foster an economy that’s built to last by ensuring that America has the highly skilled workers necessary for 21st century jobs. Yesterday, Acting Deputy Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, where she visited the Madison Area Technical College, a training ground for students that leads directly to skilled manufacturing jobs nationwide. Blank met with students and sat in on a training class focused on hybrid vehicle technology. Blank also delivered remarks on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce training and met with business and university leaders. Commerce’s Economic Development Administration recently teamed up with Madison College to provide mobile technical training opportunities both on-campus and throughout the region. The training focused on advanced manufacturing and automotive technology.

Blank also visited with several business and academic leaders, who are vital partners in the area of technical training at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.