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ARTICLE · 10 JANUARY 2024

Atlanta Has Earned Its New USPTO Hub

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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As part of the Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in December 2023 that it will open a Southeast regional office in Atlanta, Georgia.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Kara Specht
Kara Specht
Jason Stach
Jason Stach
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As part of the Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in December 2023 that it will open a Southeast regional office in Atlanta, Georgia.

The purpose of the regional office is to serve both the local community, through connection with innovators, and the USPTO through better recruitment, increased examiner and administrative judge retention, and overall improved speed and quality of the patent examination process. The Atlanta Southeast regional office is expected to be open and operational by December 2025.

The USPTO considered innovation-centric criteria in selecting Atlanta, including the number of patent-intensive industries; the number of research-intensive institutions, including higher education institutions; the state and local government legal frameworks that support intellectual property-intensive industries; and the proximity of the office to individual inventors, small businesses, veterans,

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