Bringing Innovation to Life Through Museum Sponsorship

Located inside the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® (NIHF) Museum is the National Monument to Innovation®. Honoring innovators of the past, celebrating a new class of visionary Inductees each year and imagining the future of innovation to inspire the next generation, our museum is truly one of a kind.

Thanks to the generous support of the USPTO and our sponsors, we are able to continuously add new exhibitions and educational content and offer free admission for visitors!

Qualcomm

As the world’s leading technology company responsible for inventions at the heart of 3G, 4G and now 5G wireless, Qualcomm has been proud to sponsor an exhibit that celebrates its co-founders, NIHF Inductees Irwin Jacobs and Andrew Viterbi, and breakthrough technologies that now define how the world connects, computes and communicates. The exhibit recounts the history of the mobile revolution, from a 1G “brick phone” through 5G’s transformation of healthcare, education, factories and infrastructure. Visitors can learn about major milestones and invention breakthroughs that made possible the first smartphone and brought photography, video, GPS navigation and app stores to mobile. Qualcomm provided everything that is currently a part of the ongoing exhibition, and their contributions help tell the story of innovation and how ideas can help to transform the world.

International Trademark Association (INTA)

With support from INTA and inspiration from its Unreal Campaign, an awareness-raising program that educates young consumers (ages 14 to 23) worldwide about the dangers of counterfeiting and the value of brands, the NIHF Museum features an ongoing exhibition that explores the importance of intellectual property. Highlights include an overview of what trademarks are, the brand evolution of Microsoft, Nike and Pepsi, interactive activities that illustrate the differences between authentic and counterfeit goods, and a U.S. map that illustrates the prevalence of brands headquartered throughout the nation.

Champion

For this upcoming exhibition, NIHF and Champion are working collaboratively from developing a vision to selecting photographs and artifacts for the space. By partnering with Champion, NIHF is able to share the company’s story of innovation and also put a spotlight on the three Inductees who invented the sports bra, Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller and Polly Smith. These remarkable women launched an industry and removed a barrier for women’s participation in athletics.

Additionally, the exhibit includes a feature wall that shares the stories of amazing women – from artists and scientists to public servants and athletes.

Breaking Barriers: Honoring Extraordinary Black Inventors

To help shape the narrative of future innovation, we must ensure that more stories and experiences of historical and contemporary Black innovators are honored and told. Learn about Thomas Jennings, the first black inventor to hold a patent, as well as an enslaved blacksmith and inventor named Ned, who was involved in one of the most well-documented accounts on an enslaver attempting to patent an enslaved person’s invention. This exhibit features a video display and an artifact case containing unique objects connected to NIHF Inductees. Your sponsorship could support this meaningful exhibit and honor extraordinary inventors.

E.D. Bullard Company

Bullard, a leading manufacturer of high-quality personal protective equipment and systems, including hard hats, is partnering with NIHF for an upcoming exhibit that celebrates more than 100 years of head protection. Displayed within this exhibit is an artifact vitrine featuring a Bullard 100th Anniversary Platinum Hard Hat that was made in 2019 to celebrate the anniversary of Bullard’s hard hat entering production. NIHF Inductee Edward W. Bullard is credited with inventing the first hard hat, and the company is proud to celebrate both him and its history.

The NIHF Programs Room

Interactive elements in this exhibit include touch-screen displays and hands-on activities connected to NIHF’s education programs. Additionally, the displays and content are connected to our Collegiate Inventors Competition^® winners and NIHF Inductees. Visitors can learn about portable optical biosensors through our Optibot^™ activity and complete an electrical circuit to trigger a message recorded with an electret microphone! As a sponsor for this room, your organization would have the opportunity to support the impact and importance of invention.

Sponsorship Opportunities

To ensure NIHF Museum exhibits are relevant, exciting and telling the stories of our world’s most innovative people, NIHF works with organizations interested in sponsoring new exhibits. If your organization is interested in sponsoring a space within the NIHF Museum, please contact our team at [email protected] for opportunities to partner. If your organization would like to get involved, the NIHF Museum currently has two sponsorship opportunities available.

Learn More About the NIHF Museum

To learn more about the NIHF Museum, we invite you to visit our website. To take a virtual tour of the space, click here.