DENVER (KDVR) — On Wednesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced it is planning to close the Rocky Mountain Regional Outreach Office in the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building.
The USPTO said that the goal is to decrease the amount spent on overhead expenses and real estate, adding that a typical regional office requires over $1 million in leased office space and other costs. The agency said that as of December 2024, the Denver office had less than 10 employees.
The office opened in 2014 and was billed as a way to speed up the patent process and create local jobs. It’s unclear how the positions based out of the Denver office will be impacted.
The USPTO explained in a press release that in 2011, it was authorized to create three or more satellite offices and later created five regional offices located in Detroit, Denver, San Jose and Alexandria. The USPTO footprint expanded after the 2022 Unleashing American Innovators Act required the community outreach offices to be established, along with an additional southeast regional office.
USPTO said in its Wednesday release that the regional offices were created to increase outreach activities, aiming to help connect patent filers and innovators with the USPTO, in addition to:
- Enhancing patent examiner retention
- Improving recruitment of patent examiners
- Decreasing the number of patent applications waiting for examination
- Improving the quality of patent examination
USPTO said that the offices’ purposes have shifted over time to an outreach function and were rebranded as “regional outreach offices.”
USPTO said that in its December 2024 report to Congress, it stated that “physical office space is less necessary” because of telework policies, community outreach offices that create a physical presence where intellectual property education and outreach are most needed, and the increased popularity of virtual learning and outreach.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
