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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

San Jose Area of California’s Silicon Valley Chosen for Regional US Patent and Trademark Office Location

07/03/2012
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will open one of its newly designed regional offices in the San Jose area of Silicon Valley, California, in a state where the most patents in the country originated last year.

While no specific site location in Silicon Valley has been selected, Patent officials explained branch offices will "function as hubs of innovation and creativity, protecting and fostering American innovation in the global marketplace, helping businesses cut through red tape, and creating new economic opportunities in each of the local communities."

In addition, officials explained satellite offices will attract talented IP experts who will work with entrepreneurs to process patent applications, reduce the backlog of unexamined patents, speed up the overall process, and allow businesses to move their innovation to market more quickly, giving them more room to create new jobs.

"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," said David Kappos, Patent Office Director.

California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. said; "The Commerce Department's decision to locate a new patent office in the Silicon Valley recognizes that California is the world capital of creativity and invention. "

Silicon Valley was chosen based upon a comprehensive analysis of criteria including; geographical diversity, regional economic impact, the ability to recruit and retain employees and engage the intellectual property community, the Governor's office said.

TechNet, a bipartisan network of CEOs that promotes economic growth, praised the choice of Silicon Valley. "With 25 percent of US-origin patents coming from California, almost three times more patent filings than any other state, the San Jose location is well-placed to serve businesses and entrepreneurs," TechNet officials said.

"With California generating more patents than any other state, it makes tremendous sense to put a regional patent office here in Silicon Valley. Proximity will help emerging growth companies better access the US patent system. It will also allow the patent system to better understand and support the innovation occurring in Silicon Valley," said Eve Bukowski, TechNet's California Executive Director.

"It's also an example of what can happen when everyone in California, government, academia, business, and consumers, pull together in support of what is good for the state," she added.

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