Mission and Organization of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Vision

The USPTO leads the world in providing customer-valued intellectual property (IP) rights that spark innovation, create consumer confidence, and promote creativity.

Mission Statement

The USPTO mission is to promote industrial and technological progress in the United States and strengthen the economy by:

• Administering the laws relating to patents and trademarks while ensuring the creation of valid, prompt, and proper IP rights; and
• Advising the administration on all domestic and global aspects of IP.

The American IP system has played a significant role in the history of our nation’s economy. Patents and trademarks have long protected American creativity and ingenuity—the first patent was issued in 1790 for a method of making potash fertilizer, and the oldest active trademark registered is SAMSON with design for "cords, lines, and ropes," and first was registered in 1884. The strength and vitality of our technology-driven economy depends directly on the effectiveness of the mechanisms that protect new ideas and investments in innovation and creativity. The continued demand for patents and trademark registrations underscores the ingenuity of U.S. inventors and entrepreneurs. The USPTO is at the cutting edge of our nation’s technological progress and achievement.

The primary services provided by the USPTO to protect IP are administering the laws relating to patent and trademark application processing and disseminating patent and trademark information. Through the issuance of patents, we encourage technological advancement by providing incentives to invent, invest in, and disclose new technology worldwide. Through the registration of trademarks, we assist businesses in protecting their investments, promoting quality goods and services, and safeguarding consumers against confusion and deception in the marketplace. By disseminating both patent and trademark information, we promote an understanding of IP protection and facilitate the development and sharing of new technologies worldwide.

Organizational Structure, Workforce, and Location

The USPTO is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The powers and duties of the USPTO are vested in the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO who consults with a Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) and a Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC). The USPTO has two major business lines – patents and trademarks – as shown in the following organization chart. The USPTO workforce is comprised of 6,426 federal employees, which includes 3,061 patent examiners and 389 trademark examining attorneys. In addition, we have over 2,800 contract employees.

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The USPTO is located in Arlington, Virginia. We occupy office space in 18 buildings in the Crystal City neighborhood. In addition, we have a storage facility in Springfield and one in Alexandria, Virginia, and we lease storage space in Boyers, Pennsylvania.

World Wide Web address

http://www.uspto.gov

Web address for the USPTO Performance and Accountability Report

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual