Locke recognizes efforts toward significant reduction in patent backlog under Director Kappos U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke yesterday visited the Commerce Department's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Alexandria, Va., to congratulate USPTO Director David Kappos and the agency's staff on its accomplishments during the 2010 fiscal year, which ended September 30.
Locke thanked employees for their efforts toward reducing the patent backlog and recognized the agency’s innovative approaches to help bring the USPTO into the 21st century to foster innovation, ingenuity and creativity.
“I’m here today to applaud you for setting a goal of bringing the number of pending patent applications down below 700,000 – and for the outstanding effort the team has put into making it happen,” Locke said. "That speaks to leadership, commitment, and a lot of hard, hard work.” He also noted that the USPTO was recently recognized in the Partnership for Public Service’s “Best Places to Work” rankings of government agencies, jumping 50 spots up from its 2009 rankings.
Accomplishments were acknowledged across all areas of the agency, including:
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce