The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is setting up a new Southeastern regional presence in Atlanta, a feather in the city’s cap as it works to become one of the top innovation hubs in the country.
Currently, Georgia innovators have to go to the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, for services. But the new Atlanta office will now offer them the same services as its regional counterparts in Dallas, Denver, Detroit and San Jose, like access to patent and other federal small business and industry experts, dedicated workstations to search existing patents and trademarks, trainings, workshops and other programs for STEM education.
The decision to bring a regional office to Atlanta was based on a variety of factors: the region’s growing and diverse economy, federal and private resources for startups, multiple research-intensive universities, the Veterans Administration research hospital and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the USPTO announced last week.
Another criteria for the new office is that it be close to inventors, small businesses and groups that are underrepresented in patent filings, according to the announcement.
Officials also looked at the intellectual property-intensive industries in the region, like the growing entertainment production sectors. The growth has come in part because of Georgia’s generous film tax credit, though a new state audit has found it created fewer jobs than boosters have touted.
The new USPTO regional office has drawn praise from local and national Georgia leaders, among them U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-4th District, the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet. In a statement, he said that for years, he has “reminded the world that Atlanta is not just a hub for culture and creativity, but also for technology and innovation.”
Over the past several years, Atlanta has slowly grown its stature as an innovation hub. Google has invested millions in the state as it has expanded its operations, culminating in a 500,000-square foot office spanning 19 floors in a Midtown tower.
Microsoft had also committed to having a large presence in the city, announcing in 2021 it had bought 90 acres in the Westside to build a new hub for the tech giant. Earlier this year, however, it stopped work on the new site.
Metro Atlanta is home to 31 Fortune 500/1000 businesses, hundreds of U.S. or North American headquarters and more than 100 co-working spaces, incubators and accelerators, according to the Metro Atlanta Chamber, an organization focused on making the 29-county region an attractive place for businesses.
“We are not only the region’s commercial and cultural headquarters, we are also a global nexus of innovation due in part to our strength in R&D and IP-intensive industries,” Katie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said in a statement.
A site for the new regional patent office has not been chosen yet.
“We look forward to working with stakeholders from Georgia, including members of Congress and industry representatives, to get their input on specific locations and services offered by our USPTO-Atlanta outreach office,” USPTO Director Kathi Vidal said in an email.
The office is expected to be fully operational by December 2025. A regional director has not been chosen yet.
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