USPTO Launches Office of Public Engagement

“According to a USPTO press release issued Monday, Congress has also approved a ‘broader agency realignment plan.’”

Scott Ewalt, Interim Chief Public Engagement Officer Source: USPTO (Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO)

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced Monday that it has created an Office of Public Engagement (OPE) “to advance the agency’s mission of increasing participation in the innovation ecosystem by strengthening outreach and support to American communities.”

The OPE will be on par with the Patents and Trademarks units and will consolidate a number of existing offices into one, including the four USPTO Regional Offices.

The three main offices that comprise the OPE are:

Regional Offices, which includes the four main regional offices plus two regional outreach offices (another outreach office in Atlanta is scheduled to open in 2025);
Strategic Engagement Office, which is made up of the Customer Experience Division and the Council for Inclusive Innovation Program; and
Community Engagement Office, which includes the Community Outreach Office Program, the Public Resources Division, the Innovation Outreach Division, the Students and Learners Division and the Teachers and Classrooms Division.

Broader Realignment

According to a USPTO press release issued Monday, Congress has also approved a “broader agency realignment plan” that includes elevating the Cybersecurity Unit to the Office of the Chief Information Office (OCIO); elevating the Office of Governmental Affairs (OGA) from the Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA) to its own business unit; and elevating the Designs team to its own division within Patents with a new Deputy Commissioner for Designs.

The Office also recently created a separate design patent bar, which requires applicants to take the current registration examination, “with modified scientific and technical requirements.” Vidal said at the time that the Office consistently has received more design patent applications “year over year…illustrating the importance of design protection to industry and our economy.”

“This realignment plan ensures our agency is best structured to achieve our mission,” said USPTO Director Kathi Vidal in a statement. “We are creating efficiencies in our work and strengthening our service to the public.”

The OPE became operational as of March 10. USPTO executive Scott Ewalt will serve as interim Chief Public Engagement Officer, reporting to Vidal, until a permanent head is selected.

Ewalt previously was the Deputy Chief Policy Officer for Operations in the Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA) at the USPTO and the Director of Budget Execution in the Office of Planning and Budget for the USPTO’s Chief Financial Officer. Outside of the Office, he served as Acting Executive Director of the Business Management Office for the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Acting Chief Financial and Administrative Officer for the International Trade Administration in the Department of Commerce.

Eileen McDermott Eileen McDermott is the Editor-in-Chief of IPWatchdog.com. Eileen is a veteran IP and legal journalist, and no stranger to the intellectual property world, having held editorial and managerial positions at [...see more]

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Join the Discussion

4 comments so far. Add my comment.

Anon
March 13, 2024 08:59 am
“In a way the USPTO has been dealt an impossible hand by the Supreme Court.”

This was expressly noted by Director Iancu in relation to the Gordian Knot of case law on eligibility.

And yet, people (notably of a certain mindset) still refuse to acknowledge the plain facts.
Pro Say
March 12, 2024 07:51 pm
. . . though I’m not sure that private engagement remains the best way to go . . .

And when did the PTO get into the marriage biz? (Watch out, though, ’cause based on past history, they’re likely to at some point institute marriage maintenance fees.)
Anon
March 12, 2024 03:07 pm
This smacks of Equity and Commissars.

The last branch that requires action – and the type of action most needed – is the Executive Branch.
Lab Jedor
March 12, 2024 01:06 pm
I applaud the USPTO’s efforts to engage with inventors. I received a “welcome” letter from the USPTO in a recent Office Action. It explains briefly what I can expect in the prosecution of this case. Even though its records should show that I have been in this game for a while. Still, I appreciate the effort.

In a way the USPTO has been dealt an impossible hand by the Supreme Court. However, how it operates the PTAB is of its own making.

The whole patent system has a Twilight Zone flavor. While the USPTO tries to promote patent application filings, the patent practice has shown that the economic value of an issued patent has diminished and asymptotically seems to have reached zero by now.

Personally, I still hope that Congress will come to its senses. But we have been hoping that for a while. So, we currently are in a situation wherein the USPTO urges us to file patent applications and is committed to assist us with that. At the same time the economic value of an issued patent is doubtful at best.

This all seems like convincing people to buy bonds that are known to be of limited or no value. Instead of handing over your money (which you still do), this has the appearance of a convoluted method in tricking an inventor to hand over her/his intellectual property, while paying themselves for describing inventions in eye-watering detail.