| Dear Colleagues, The United States Patent and Trademark Office is pleased to welcome the rest of the Federal Government back to work. All of us are especially grateful to those who stayed on the job without pay to protect our country and keep us safe. Meanwhile, we, as you know, have been open for business! And as such, I would like to take this opportunity to thank every member of our USPTO family for your professionalism, perseverance, and commitment these last 43 days. Through your extraordinary efforts, our agency remained not only operational but exemplary—virtually the only federal agency that continued to function at full capacity. Together, we kept America's innovation engine running without missing a beat. Because of careful fiscal management, transparent financial reporting, and the strength of our
fee-funded reserves, the USPTO remained open for business throughout the lapse. We began the fiscal year with just over $1 billion in reserve funds and ended the shutdown period with approximately $600 million, ensuring continued operations through December 24 and, if necessary, beyond. That stewardship—anchored by daily cash-flow analyses from our management team—reflects our shared responsibility to the inventors, entrepreneurs, and businesses who rely on us every day. And we didn't simply remain open—we accelerated. Patent operations launched the ASAP! AI-Assisted Search Pilot, expanded streamlined claim-set reviews, and reduced the backlog by tens of thousands of applications. Trademark operations sustained steady throughput—processing more than 92,000 applications and thousands of renewals—ensuring the momentum of American commerce and branding never slowed. Across the Office, our teams worked in overdrive to deliver quality, timeliness, and service that strengthened stakeholder confidence in the USPTO's leadership and capability. We also used this time to strengthen the agency internally—advancing our return-to-office transition, onboarding new patent examiners and trademark examining attorneys, refining performance appraisal plans for FY26, and even beginning to pay out performance awards for FY25. This process is already started, and our goal is to make all payments before the holidays. This far exceeds last year's date, when there was no shut down. Our collective performance over these weeks demonstrated that resilience and resourcefulness define who we are. You showed time and again that we relish our role as caretakers of American innovation and growth. Stakeholders across the country took notice, expressing confidence that even in challenging circumstances, the USPTO delivers. As we resume normal operations, we will no doubt be building on our momentum with the professionalism and unity that carried us through. You have shown the world that you are the best at what you do, no matter what comes your way. Innovation never stops. Neither do we. |
