By Zvi Rosen, Assistant Chief Counsel
On September 11, 2018, following the conclusion of the roundtable in Princeton, Acting Chief Counsel Major Clark, Assistant Chief Counsel Zvi Rosen, and Manufacturing and Technology Advocate Thomas Rossomondo met with employees of Argent Associates, a small business in Edison, NJ. Argent is engaged in a wide variety of enterprise and government-focused technology applications and solutions to bring smart solutions to the public.
Argent was founded by Beatriz (Betty) Manetta in 1998 as a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) primarily focused on the telecommunications industry. Argent original focused on reselling and distribution services for new technology, but business has grown and expanded, and today has businesses including delivering technology development, supply chain innovation, cloud-based software solutions, Internet of Things (IoT) applications, public safety enhancement solutions, and more. Argent holds multiple patents and holds other IP rights as well in their work.
While at Argent, Advocacy staff learned about the Smart Edges and Smart Cities system systems Argent has developed. In particular, we learned about Argent’s system that combines interactive kiosks with smart LED lights for safety, crime prevention, and more. (https://argentassociates.com/smart-cities/)
Argent’s regulatory concerns largely focused on issues of contracting –as a small business competing for large enterprise and government contracts, there is always concern that their size is an impediment competing against larger bidders. Argent is also an 8(a) and woman-owned certified small business, and those regulations are important to their ability to compete for large contracts.
Argent also holds multiple forms of intellectual property protections, including numerous patents, trade secrets, copyrights, and trademarks. Being able to enforce their rights in their IP is an important consideration. Likewise, Argent works with the FCC to ensure that their products meet FCC requirements, a relationship they believe to be productive.
Advocacy was in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York for Regional Regulatory Reform Roundtables September 11-13.
Can’t get to a roundtable near you? Fill out this form and tell us about your federal regulatory burdens. We will pass this information on to the appropriate agency and use it in the planning of upcoming Regional Regulatory Reform Roundtables.
For more information on Advocacy’s mission, our regulatory reform efforts or to find out where the next Regional Regulatory Reform Roundtables will be held, please visit: https://advocacy.sba.gov/regulation/regulatory-reform/.
Zvi Rosen is an Assistant Chief Counsel for Advocacy whose portfolio includes intellectual property. Rosen can be reached at zvi.rosen@sba.gov