Politics & Government

Applying For Patents Should Soon Be Easier

Silicon Valley is selected as one of three new homes for a United States patent office; it is expected to open within the next two years.

Instead of having to travel to a patent office in Alexandria, Va., Silicon Valley inventors and entrepeneurs with ideas to protect will now be able to go to a patent office much closer to home. It was announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark office will open one of its first satellite bureaus in San Jose.

The office, which could employ up to 1,000 people, has been in demand for years. One in every four patents created in the U.S. comes from California, according to an article posted on BizJournal. Of those patents created in California, about half come from the Silicon Valley.

In addition to the new Silicon Valley office cutting travel time, it will also cut down on the wait for a patent to be approved. Because the Alexandria office was the only patent office in the country, there was a backlog of three years.

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The exact location of the office is yet to be determined, but it is expected to open within the next two years. In addition to the Silicon Valley office, Denver and Dallas will also be home to patent offices in the future, according to the article. These cities were chosen from hundreds that applied.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, a leader in bringing a patent office to California, released a statement this morning on the announcement.

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"The U.S. Department of Commerce has made a wise decision to locate a U.S. Patent and Trademark satellite office in Silicon Valley, the innovation capital of our country,” she said. “With Stanford and other top research universities, a highly skilled workforce, and a sizable share of the nation's patents, it's critical to have a patent office in Silicon Valley."

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