USPTO

Our Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) oversees our agency’s annual budget, collecting and aligning financial resources to support the agency’s mission and operations. Its four offices — the Office of Finance, Office of Financial Management Systems, Office of Planning and Budget, and Office of Procurement — execute critical financial management activities including travel and payments, financial accounting, financial systems design and operations, fees and forecasting, performance tracking, and contracts in support of the USPTO mission to drive innovation, inclusive capitalism, and global competitiveness. Earlier this year, AGA awarded the USPTO its 22nd consecutive Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting and the Best-in-Class Award for Integrated Financial and Performance Reporting for our annual Agency Financial Report, which documents performance and financial management milestones every fiscal year. “The OCFO is a strategic business partner for our entire agency, and our small organization has an outsized, enterprise-wide impact here at the USPTO and in the larger innovation ecosystem,” said Deputy CFO Sean Mildrew. “It’s an honor to work alongside dedicated professionals as we empower our nation’s innovators and entrepreneurs.” #TeamUSPTO

We’re looking for new members to join our Council for Inclusive Innovation (CI²) to implement and advance the National Strategy for Inclusive Innovation and promote innovation for and from all. These leaders will help advise the Secretary of Commerce and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO as we work throughout the innovation ecosystem to foster inventorship and entrepreneurship across the country. “As we continue to fulfill our mission to meet people where they are and connect them with the resources they need to be successful creators and entrepreneurs, we look to our communities across America to nominate leaders who can advance this work,” said Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. Send questions and nominations via email to [email protected] by 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 30.

Get an overview of the patent challenge process before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at our third Public Engagement Partnership meeting. We’ll cover: ✔️ How the PTAB conducts the process ✔️ A case study of a proceeding involving a pharmaceutical patent ✔️ Statistics on proceedings involving Orange Book-listed and biologics patents Learn more and register: https://bit.ly/4dyr5DZ

These troops radiate innovative energy! Guardians from the 460th Civil Engineering Squadron demonstrated cutting-edge detectors they’ve integrated into a robotic platform to indicate the presence of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) agents – marking the first time CBRN detection capabilities have been developed for troops, by troops. The demonstration was part of a visit Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property made to Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado last week to see these innovations firsthand, discuss the United States Space Force's IP priorities, and introduce the USPTO’s military initiative. The USPTO works closely with the United States Department of Defense to ensure military technology is properly patented and protected.

You can drive change and innovation as the Deputy Chief Policy Officer for the Creative Works and Global Outreach at the USPTO. Use your passion for intellectual property (IP) to promote international development of IP systems and and advocate for cost-effective improvements to protect and enforce IP rights. You will lead a team that coordinates global outreach at the national and international level. Showcase your expertise in intellectual property, apply: https://bit.ly/4cnHlWZ

A full decade of taking innovation to new heights 🏔️ Happy 10-year anniversary to the USPTO’s Rocky Mountain Regional Outreach Office! Last week, we celebrated this milestone in Denver alongside staff, IP experts, and industry professionals from across the region. Join us in congratulating the Rocky Mountain Office on its steadfast support of local inventors and entrepreneurs over the past 10 years 👏

One of our prominent alumni was also a trailblazing advocate for women’s equality. 🙌 Clara Barton is perhaps best known as a Civil War nurse and as founder of the American Red Cross, but before she saved lives in field hospitals and organized relief for communities impacted by natural disasters, she worked at the U.S. Patent Office. Barton was one of the first women to receive a clerkship with the federal government, receiving pay equal to her male colleagues. For this, she frequently confronted hostility, slander, and abuse. Barton’s first tenure of employment was troubled; she was demoted to a copyist and eventually removed from her position in 1858. Barton returned to the Patent Office in 1861, hoping her example would help other women enter federal service, but the outbreak of the American Civil War led Barton down a different path. “I may sometimes be willing to teach for nothing, but if paid at all, I shall never do a man’s work for less than a man’s pay,” she said. #WomensEqualityDay

What do the USPTO and National Park Service have in common? We’re both in the protection business!     On this day in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act creating the federal bureau. Our fellow federal agency maintains more than 400 units of natural and cultural significance, more than 85 million acres of land, and this registered trademark. Familiar to outdoor enthusiasts and history buffs alike, the NPS arrowhead features a tall sequoia tree, snow-capped mountain landscape, and a fluffy cow... er, a bison, that is. These symbols represent the scenery, flora, fauna, and cultural diversity of our nation’s public lands. Which parks have you been to and spotted the NPS arrowhead trademark?

With more than 165 patents to her name, Audrey Sherman is already an inspiring and accomplished inventor. But now the scientist and mentor has a new addition to her hall of patents – her own USPTO Inventor Trading Card! She created adhesives that are used in phone screen protectors, car window tinting, and tapes for dressing wounds – and works with students to inspire the next generation of innovators to follow their own passions for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Sherman is the latest addition to our growing collection of inventor trading cards. Learn more about Audrey and the activity inspired by her story, here: https://bit.ly/3XeRVLA

We had a blast meeting all the budding inventors at this year’s Invention-Con! More than 150 people attended in person – and more than 580 people tuned in online – to hear from experts, get tips on IP protection and learn how to develop, fund, and market inventions. Can’t wait to see you next year, innovators!