IP Alerts

November 20, 2013

As previously reported, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been implementing its plans to open a number of satellite patent offices to complement its main offices in Arlington, Virginia. Yesterday, the USPTO announced that the San Jose City Hall building has been chosen as the permanent location for the USPTO’s Silicon Valley satellite office. The plan is to open the office in the city hall building, located at 200 East Santa Clara Street in San Jose, by the end of 2014.  

Since April 2013, the USPTO has been operating out of temporary office space in Menlo Park, California, and until the new San Jose City Hall space is ready for occupancy, Silicon Valley Office Director Michele Lee and nine Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) judges will continue to work from there. Eventually, the USPTO plans to staff the Silicon Valley office with a minimum of 60 new patent examiners and approximately 20 PTAB judges during its first year of operation.

The USPTO opened its first satellite office, located in Detroit, in July 2012. Locations for its remaining satellite offices will be at the Terminal Annex Federal Building in Dallas and at the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building in Denver. The Denver office is currently scheduled to open in July 2014.

Additional information on the selection of the Silicon Valley satellite office location can be found in the USPTO's press release here.

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