USPTO announces closure of Rocky Mountain Regional Outreach Office ALEXANDRIA, VA— The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced that it plans to permanently close the Rocky Mountain Regional Outreach Office in Denver, Colorado. The 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) authorized the creation of three or more satellite offices for the USPTO. The USPTO later created five regional offices, in Detroit, Dallas, Denver, San Jose, and Alexandria. The 2022 Unleashing American Innovators Act (UAIA) expanded the USPTO's footprint by requiring a new type of office—the community outreach office—along with an additional regional office in the Southeast. The offices were established to increase outreach activities to better connect patent filers and innovators with the USPTO, enhance patent examiner retention, improve the recruitment of patent examiners, decrease the number of patent applications waiting for examination, and improve the quality of patent examination. Over time, the purpose of the offices has shifted to an outreach function and the offices were rebranded as "regional outreach offices" and the office leaders as "regional outreach directors." A typical regional office requires more than $1 million of leased office space and overhead expenses. As of December of 2024, the number of employees in the Rocky Mountain office had dropped to less than 10. In a December 2024 Report to Congress, the USPTO stated that "physical office space is less necessary because of: (1) the USPTO's successful and data-driven telework policies (2) the planned establishment of community outreach offices that create a physical presence in those communities in which outreach and IP education are most needed, and (3) the increased popularity of virtual education and outreach events." The closure of this office is consistent with that assessment. |
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