35 U.S.C. § 1: Establishment

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is established as an agency of the United States, within the Department of Commerce. In carrying out its functions, the United States Patent and Trademark Office shall be subject to the policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce, but otherwise shall retain responsibility for decisions regarding the management and administration of its operations and shall exercise independent control of its budget allocations and expenditures, personnel decisions and processes, procurements, and other administrative and management functions in accordance with this title and applicable provisions of law. Those operations designed to grant and issue patents and those operations which are designed to facilitate the registration of trademarks shall be treated as separate operating units within the Office. The United States Patent and Trademark Office shall maintain its principal office in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, for the service of process and papers and for the purpose of carrying out its functions. The United States Patent and Trademark Office shall be deemed, for purposes of venue in civil actions, to be a resident of the district in which its principal office is located, except where jurisdiction is otherwise provided by law. The United States Patent and Trademark Office may establish satellite offices in such other places in the United States as it considers necessary and appropriate in the conduct of its business. For purposes of this title, the United States Patent and Trademark Office shall also be referred to as the “Office” and the “Patent and Trademark Office”. to the head of such department or office is deemed to refer to the head of the department or office to which such function is transferred; or to such department or office is deemed to refer to the department or office to which such function is transferred. to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks is deemed to refer to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; to the Assistant Commissioner for Patents is deemed to refer to the Commissioner for Patents; or to the Assistant Commissioner for Trademarks is deemed to refer to the Commissioner for Trademarks. “Except as otherwise provided by law, a Federal official to whom a function is transferred by this subtitle may, for purposes of performing the function, exercise all authorities under any other provision of law that were available with respect to the performance of that function to the official responsible for the performance of the function immediately before the effective date of the transfer of the function under this subtitle. that have been issued, made, granted, or allowed to become effective by the President, the Secretary of Commerce, any officer or employee of any office transferred by this subtitle, or any other Government official, or by a court of competent jurisdiction, in the performance of any function that is transferred by this subtitle; and that are in effect on the effective date of such transfer (or become effective after such date pursuant to their terms as in effect on such effective date), shall continue in effect according to their terms until modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in accordance with law by the President, any other authorized official, a court of competent jurisdiction, or operation of law. This subtitle shall not affect any proceedings or any application for any benefits, service, license, permit, certificate, or financial assistance pending on the effective date of this subtitle [see Effective Date of 1999 Amendment note above] before an office transferred by this subtitle, but such proceedings and applications shall be continued. Orders shall be issued in such proceedings, appeals shall be taken therefrom, and payments shall be made pursuant to such orders, as if this subtitle had not been enacted, and orders issued in any such proceeding shall continue in effect until modified, terminated, superseded, or revoked by a duly authorized official, by a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law. Nothing in this subsection shall be considered to prohibit the discontinuance or modification of any such proceeding under the same terms and conditions and to the same extent that such proceeding could have been discontinued or modified if this subtitle had not been enacted. This subtitle shall not affect suits commenced before the effective date of this subtitle, and in all such suits, proceedings shall be had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered in the same manner and with the same effect as if this subtitle had not been enacted. No suit, action, or other proceeding commenced by or against the Department of Commerce or the Secretary of Commerce, or by or against any individual in the official capacity of such individual as an officer or employee of an office transferred by this subtitle, shall abate by reason of the enactment of this subtitle. If any Government officer in the official capacity of such officer is party to a suit with respect to a function of the officer, and under this subtitle such function is transferred to any other officer or office, then such suit shall be continued with the other officer or the head of such other office, as applicable, substituted or added as a party. Except as otherwise provided by this subtitle, any statutory requirements relating to notice, hearings, action upon the record, or administrative or judicial review that apply to any function transferred by this subtitle shall apply to the exercise of such function by the head of the Federal agency, and other officers of the agency, to which such function is transferred by this subtitle. “Except as otherwise provided in this subtitle, so much of the personnel, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds employed, used, held, available, or to be made available in connection with a function transferred to an official or agency by this subtitle shall be available to the official or the head of that agency, respectively, at such time or times as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget directs for use in connection with the functions transferred. “Except as otherwise expressly prohibited by law or otherwise provided in this subtitle, an official to whom functions are transferred under this subtitle (including the head of any office to which functions are transferred under this subtitle) may delegate any of the functions so transferred to such officers and employees of the office of the official as the official may designate, and may authorize successive redelegations of such functions as may be necessary or appropriate. No delegation of functions under this section or under any other provision of this subtitle shall relieve the official to whom a function is transferred under this subtitle of responsibility for the administration of the function. If necessary, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall make any determination of the functions that are transferred under this subtitle. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, at such time or times as the Director shall provide, may make such determinations as may be necessary with regard to the functions transferred by this subtitle, and to make such additional incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made available in connection with such functions, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subtitle. The Director shall provide for the termination of the affairs of all entities terminated by this subtitle and for such further measures and dispositions as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subtitle. “For purposes of this subtitle, the vesting of a function in a department or office pursuant to reestablishment of an office shall be considered to be the transfer of the function. “Existing appropriations and funds available for the performance of functions, programs, and activities terminated pursuant to this subtitle shall remain available, for the duration of their period of availability, for necessary expenses in connection with the termination and resolution of such functions, programs, and activities, subject to the submission of a plan to the Committees on Appropriations of the House and Senate in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 605 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, as contained in Public Law 105–277 [ 112 Stat. 2681–111 ]. the term ‘function’ includes any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, activity, or program; and the term ‘office’ includes any office, administration, agency, bureau, institute, council, unit, organizational entity, or component thereof.” Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act [ Dec. 29, 2022 ], the Director shall establish a satellite office of the Office in the southeast region of the United States. The number of patent-intensive industries located near the site. How many research-intensive institutions, including institutions of higher education, are located near the site. The State and local government legal and business frameworks that support intellectual property-intensive industries located near the site.” Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act [ Dec. 29, 2022 ], the Director shall establish not fewer than 4 community outreach offices throughout the United States. the principal office of the Office; or any satellite office of the Office. The Director shall establish not less than 1 community outreach office under this subsection in the northern New England region, which shall serve the States of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. there is located not less than 1 public institution of higher education and not less than 1 private institution of higher education; and there are located not more than 15 registered patent attorneys, according to data from the Office of Enrollment and Discipline of the Office; and according to data from the 2012 Survey of Business Owners conducted by the Bureau of the Census, less than 45 percent of the firms (as that term is defined for the purposes of that Survey) are owned by women, minorities, or veterans. further achieve the purposes described in section 23(b)(1) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act ( 35 U.S.C. 1 note), as amended by this division; provide education regarding the patent system; and promote the career benefits of innovation and entrepreneurship; and educate prospective inventors, including individual inventors, small businesses, veterans, low-income populations, students, rural populations, and any geographic group of innovators that the Director may determine to be underrepresented in patent filings, about all public and private resources available to potential patent applicants, including the patent pro bono programs.” Subject to available resources, the Director [Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office] shall, by not later than the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Sept. 16, 2011 ], establish 3 or more satellite offices in the United States to carry out the responsibilities of the [United States Patent and Trademark] Office. better connect patent filers and innovators with the Office, including by increasing outreach activities, including to individual inventors, small businesses, veterans, low-income populations, students, rural populations, and any geographic group of innovators that the Director may determine to be underrepresented in patent filings; enhance patent examiner and administrative patent judge retention, including patent examiners and administrative patent judges from economically, geographically, and demographically diverse backgrounds; improve recruitment of patent examiners; decrease the number of patent applications waiting for examination; and improve the quality of patent examination. shall ensure geographic diversity among the offices, including by ensuring that such offices are established in different States and regions throughout the Nation; may rely upon any previous evaluations by the Office of potential locales for satellite offices, including any evaluations prepared as part of the Office’s Nationwide Workforce Program that resulted in the 2010 selection of Detroit, Michigan, as the first satellite office of the Office; shall evaluate and consider the extent to which the purposes of satellite offices listed under subsection (b) will be achieved; shall consider the availability of scientific and technically knowledgeable personnel in the region from which to draw new patent examiners at minimal recruitment cost; shall consider the economic impact to the region; and with respect to each office established after January 1, 2023 , shall consider the proximity of the office to anchor institutions (such as hospitals primarily serving veterans and institutions of higher education), individual inventors, small businesses, veterans, low-income populations, students, rural populations, and any geographic group of innovators that the Director may determine to be underrepresented in patent filings. Nothing in paragraph (1) shall constrain the Office to only consider its evaluations in selecting the Detroit, Michigan, satellite office. the rationale of the Director in selecting the location of any satellite office required under subsection (a), including an explanation of how the selected location will achieve the purposes of satellite offices listed under subsection (b) and how the required considerations listed under subsection (c) were met; the progress of the Director in establishing all such satellite offices; and whether the operation of existing satellite offices is achieving the purposes under subsection (b).” The satellite office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to be located in Detroit, Michigan, shall be known and designated as the ‘Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office’. Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the satellite office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to be located in Detroit, Michigan, referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office’.” The term ‘Director’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the Office. The term ‘Office’ means the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The term ‘patent pro bono programs’ means the programs established pursuant to section 32 of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act ( 35 U.S.C. 2 note). The term ‘southeast region of the United States’ means the area of the United States that is comprised of the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.” The term ‘Director’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The term ‘Office’ means the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The term ‘Patent Public Advisory Committee’ means the Patent Public Advisory Committee established under section 5(a) of title 35 , United States Code. The term ‘Trademark Act of 1946’ means the Act entitled ‘An Act to provide for the registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain international conventions, and for other purposes’, approved July 5, 1946 ( 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) (commonly referred to as the ‘Trademark Act of 1946’ or the ‘Lanham Act’). The term ‘Trademark Public Advisory Committee’ means the Trademark Public Advisory Committee established under section 5(a) of title 35 , United States Code.”