PTO Opens Regional Office in Silicon Valley

The Patent and Trademark Office officially opened its new location in Silicon Valley, it said in a news release Thursday. The office, located in San Jose, California, will "help the West Coast region's entrepreneurs advance cutting-edge ideas to the marketplace, grow their businesses, and more efficiently navigate the world's strongest intellectual property system," the release said. Director Michelle Lee participated in Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony, and in her remarks, announced the PTO's new startup partnership. Lee said the partnership is a "robust, public-private collaboration with area innovators" that will ensure startups have increased and easier access to information about intellectual property, tailor existing IP resources and programs to the needs of the startup community, and develop new IP resources where appropriate to better serve newer companies.