Ohenebah Amponsah awarded Sydney B. Williams Scholarship plans to “advise minority-owned nonprofits, start-ups and corporations on product liability, regulatory compliance, and commercial transactions as well as protect their companies from patent infringement.”
Kofi Amponsah
Oheneba “Kofi” Amponsah, an ASRC shareholder employee on the United States Patent and Trademark Office Information Resources and Instructional Services (USPTO IRIS) contract, was recently awarded the Sydney B. Williams Scholarship in the amount of $10,000. Kofi is a business methods patent analyst working at the USPTO main campus in Alexandria, Virginia. He is also currently an evening student at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC Law) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in biology and neuroscience from Oberlin College. The scholarship he received is sponsored by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and American Intellectual Property Law Association to promote diversity and offer financial assistance to law school students interested in Intellectual Property Law. An excerpt from UDC Law’s article, “UDC Law student Oheneba Amponsah awarded Syndey B. Williams Scholarship” (Looney, 2017): Oneheba explained his intention is to use his legal, patent and scientific expertise to “alleviate some of the disparities in the legal system for historically disenfranchised people and their business entities.” Specifically, he
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He continued, “It is about providing access to opportunities for economic empowerment and financial literacy to those who have been historically disenfranchised from building capital. Patents are about innovation on one end of the spectrum, and at the other is the protection of shareholder value. I think Civil Rights 2.0 is about fostering a spirit of innovation in minority communities (i.e., black, poor white, LGBT, Hispanic, veterans) through access, inclusion, and mentoring so they may one day start companies, build capital and create jobs for all Americans. That’s my dream.” When asked what the scholarship means for him, Oneheba said, “In assessing the compelling need for intellectual property attorneys of color, I believe the scholarship program would allow me to network with fellow scholars and find attorney-mentors who may relate to my life situation and prior experiences.” Kofi’s Iñupiaq name is Attungorah. Kofi’s father is Ofosu Amponsah from Accra, Ghana and his mother is Kim Denise Hilaael Amponsah, an original shareholder of the Attungorah family of Tikigaq. His grandfather is Timothy M. (Johnson) Hilaael, great-grandfather is Charles Attungorah (Johnson) of Tikigaq, great-great-grandfather is Asatsiak Attungorah and great-greatgrandmother is Otoonah Killigivuk.
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