USPTO Selects Location for Dallas Regional Satellite Office

Terminal Annex Federal Building, 207 S. Houston Street, Dallas, Texas. Photo from GSA.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced that it has chosen the Terminal Annex Federal Building as the site for its Dallas-Fort Worth regional satellite office. The Terminal Annex Federal Building is located along the southern edge of Dealey Plaza in Dallas and is close to public transportation. The office will operate as a place for small businesses and entrepreneurs to navigate the patent process, meet with examiners, and access USPTO’s comprehensive search databases. The office will also support job creation and stimulate the local economy.

In July, the USPTO announced plans to open a regional office in the Dallas area, along with satellite offices in Denver, and the Silicon Valley region of California. The satellite offices are part of an ongoing effort to create new economic opportunities and to serve regional entrepreneurs more efficiently by getting them the patents they need to attract capital, activate their business plans, and help create more good-paying jobs.

“The Dallas-Fort Worth area is exceedingly rich in engineering talent, patent applicants, and patent grants, and boasts an above average population of potential Veteran employees. This office location positions us well to serve the broad innovation community throughout the Central time zone and the South,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “We are already underway identifying leadership who know the unique contours of the business landscape to staff the new satellite offices. The USPTO is committed to making certain that American businesses and entrepreneurs have all of the resources they need to grow, create jobs and compete globally.”

The USPTO worked with the General Services Administration (GSA) to select a location in the Dallas-Fort Worth region that is centrally located, affordable, and well suited to the agency’s needs. It also needed to have a strong economic impact on the region, be the best fit for the community, be the most cost-effective, and provide a great place to work for employees, while helping the USPTO fulfill its core mission. The Terminal Annex Federal Building was not only the most affordable, but met all federal regulations for leasing space, while providing the agency flexibility on a move-in date. The building will be leased at a rate well below market price, and the USPTO will partner with GSA to construct its space in the building as quickly as possible.

The Dallas-Fort Worth office will be modeled after the USPTO’s first satellite office in Detroit, which opened in July and is on pace to have more than 100 patent examiners and 20 administrative patent judges on board by the end of its first year of operation. Also in July, the USPTO announced that its Denver office will be located in the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building in central Denver.

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011, signed into law by President Obama in September, requires the USPTO to establish at least three regional satellite locations by September 2014 as part of a larger effort to modernize the U.S. patent system.

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