USPTO

James Madison Building at USPTO campus in Alexandria VA

A central feature of the Carlyle District is the United States Patent and Trademark Office (also known as the USPTO). Every day new products are invented, new uses for old products are discovered, and employment opportunities created for millions of Americans. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is a federal agency in the Department of Commerce that strives to protect the economic interests of inventors and the welfare of the public. According to the USPTO, the purpose of these patents is to “promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution).”

The USPTO is one of the very few government services that is actually completely fee funded. This is as compared to the US Postal Service and Amtrak, which are both fee funded but run deficits requiring federal money.

The USPTO occupies five interconnected buildings in the Carlyle District of Alexandria, Virginia. This office employs over 7,000 full time staff to support its major functions—the examination and issuance of patents and the examination and registration of trademarks.

The USPTO's glass cuts a striking profile in Alexandria's skyline.