Senators Scott Brown and John Kerry Propose Massachusetts as Location for Satellite Patent Office

On November 17, 2011, Senators Scott Brown and John Kerry sent a letter to David Kappos, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, urging him to consider Massachusetts as a location for one of the satellite patent offices that was authorized under the recently enacted America Invents Act.

The letter points out that Massachusetts is home to many world-class universities, including MIT, Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, Tufts, and the University of Massachusetts, and would therefore be an ideal location from which to recruit talented patent examiners.

In addition, Senators Brown and Kerry state that Massachusetts is a world leader in high tech, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and pharmaceutical research, which are all industries that rely heavily on the patent system.

A satellite office is scheduled to open in Detroit next summer, and is expected to hire approximately 100 patent examiners and 25 support personnel. California, Colorado, Hawaii, Texas, Utah, and Washington are also seeking approval to open satellite patent offices. The America Invents Act, signed by President Barack Obama in September, authorizes "three or more" satellite patent offices to be established by the year 2014.

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