USPTO to open three new regional offices
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will open three new satellite offices later this year in a bid to “foster American innovation in the global marketplace”.
Regional offices in Dallas, Denver and Silicon Valley will join one in Detroit, which opened on July 13, 2012. In that office, the USPTO is hiring 125 examiners in groups of 25 each.
The Office selected the four sites based on factors including geographical diversity, and the ability to recruit and retain employees. The 2011 America Invents Act requires the USPTO to establish satellite offices in a wider effort to modernise the US patent system over the next three years.
In a statement, the Office said the new sites will “function as hubs of innovation and creativity, helping protect and foster American innovation in the global market and businesses cut through red tape”.
According to the statement, the USPTO aims to reduce the backlog of unexamined patents and speed up the examination process, “allowing businesses to move their innovation to market more quickly and giving them more room to create new jobs”.
David Kappos, director of the USPTO, said: “By expanding our operation outside of the Washington metropolitan area for the first time in our agency’s 200-plus year history, we are taking unprecedented steps to recruit a diverse range of talented technical experts, creating new opportunities across the American workforce.”
