Our Sponsors
About Edison Nation®: 
Edison Nation is an idea-to-shelf consumer product developer and inventor community behind such products as Gyro Bowl, Emery Cat, Eggies and Mister Steamy. Edison Nation operates an invention-centric multi-platform organization, including Everyday Edisons, an Emmy® award-winning series on public television now in production for Season 4; Inventors Digest, the longest running magazine dedicated to the study of business and innovation; and the namesake Edison Nation sponsored idea search service that has brought to market dozens of products in over 25,000 stores nationwide through partnerships with leading retailers and manufacturers. Edison Nation was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. For more information, please visit www.edisonnation.com.
About X PRIZE Foundation:
Founded in 1995, the X PRIZE Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the leading organization solving the world’s Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, incentivized prize competitions that stimulate investment in research and development worth far more than the prize itself. The organization brings about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity by inspiring the formation of new industries and the revitalization of markets that are currently stuck due to existing failures or a commonly held belief that a solution is not possible. It motivates brilliant innovators from all disciplines to leverage their intellectual and financial capital. The X PRIZE Foundation conducts competitions in five Prize Groups: Education; Exploration; Energy & Environment; Global Development; and Life Sciences. Active prizes include the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, the $10 million Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Medco, and the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE. For more information, go to www.xprize.org.
About the USPTO:
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the Federal agency for granting U.S. patents and registering trademarks. In doing this, the USPTO fulfills the mandate of Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, of the Constitution that the Executive branch "promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries." The USPTO registers trademarks based on the Commerce Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3). Under this system of protection, American industry has flourished. New products have been invented, new uses for old ones discovered, and employment opportunities created for millions of Americans. The strength and vitality of the U.S. economy depends directly on effective mechanisms that protect new ideas and investments in innovation and creativity. The continued demand for patents and trademarks underscores the ingenuity of American inventors and entrepreneurs. The USPTO is at the cutting edge of the Nation's technological progress and achievement.
About the National Center for Food Protection and Defense:
The National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD) was officially launched as a Homeland Security Center of Excellence in July 2004. A multidisciplinary and action-oriented research consortium located at the University of Minnesota, NCFPD addresses the vulnerability of the nation's food system to attack through intentional contamination with biological or chemical agents.
NCFPD's research and education program is aimed at reducing the potential for contamination at any point along the food supply chain and mitigating potentially catastrophic public health and economic effects of such attacks. The program incorporates cutting-edge research across a wide range of disciplines, taking a comprehensive, farm-to-table view of the food system and encompassing all aspects from primary production through transportation and food processing to retail and food service.
About Booz Allen Hamilton:
Booz Allen Hamilton has been at the forefront of strategy and technology consulting for nearly a century. Today, the firm provides services primarily to the US government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit organizations. Booz Allen offers clients deep functional knowledge spanning strategy and organization, engineering and operations, technology, and analytics—which it combines with specialized expertise in clients’ mission and domain areas to help solve their toughest problems.
Booz Allen is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, employs more than 25,000 people, and had revenue of $5.59 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2011. To learn more, visit www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: BAH)
About John Deere: 
Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) is a world leader in providing advanced products and services and is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land - those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world’s dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. For 175 years, John Deere has delivered innovative products of superior quality built on a tradition of integrity. For more information, visit John Deere at its worldwide website at www.JohnDeere.com.
About MasterCard:
MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Learn more at www.mastercard.com, follow us on Twitter @mastercardnews or join the conversation on The Heart of Commerce Blog.
About Rockwell Collins:
Rockwell Collins is a pioneer in the development and deployment of innovative communication and aviation electronic solutions for both commercial and 
government applications. Our expertise in flight deck avionics, cabin electronics, mission communications, information management, and simulation and training is delivered by 20,000 employees, and a global service and support network that crosses 27 countries. To find out more, please visit www.rockwellcollins.com.
Special Thanks
FIRST® LEGO® League wishes to thank Maureen Toohey, Esq. for providing legal guidance regarding patent law for this website. Maureen was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) for the three year term from 2008-2011. She is the founding member of the Toohey Law Group LLC. where she counsels clients regarding the strategic protection and transfer of intellectual property rights, supervises the prosecution of intellectual property portfolios, and litigates intellectual property disputes. The legal information provided here is for informational purposes only. Teams should seek their own legal counsel regarding protection of individual ideas submitted to this competition as stated in the FAQs
