Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022

In 2011, Congress enacted the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which authorized the first four regional outreach offices of the USPTO located in Detroit, Dallas, Denver, and San Jose, California. Establishing these offices moved the agency toward a new outreach model that meets Americans where they are and has yielded great economic and social benefits to both the USPTO and the communities that these offices serve. 

To further these goals, the UAIA required the USPTO to establish a Southeast Regional Outreach Office (SEROO) within three years of enactment. It also required the establishment of a community outreach office in the northern New England region (the Northern New England Community Outreach Office) within five years of enactment. In December 2023, the USPTO announced that the locations for the SEROO and Northern New England Office would be in Atlanta and Strafford County, New Hampshire, respectively. 

The decisions for office locations were informed by statutory requirements of the UAIA along with public input from a June 2023 Request for Comments. The new regional office in Atlanta is expected to be fully opened and operational by December 2025, with the New Hampshire outreach office opening soon thereafter. The remaining three community outreach offices will be established no later than the statutory deadline.

The AIA originally set forth discounts to small and micro entities to mitigate against financial barriers to entry. Prior to enactment of the UAIA, the fee reductions were 50% for small entities and 75% for micro entities. Post-UAIA, those reductions have been increased to 60% and 80%, respectively. Applicants qualifying for a small entity discount must meet the "small entity" definition in 35 U.S.C. § 41(h)(1). Applicants receiving a micro entity discount must certify that they meet the "micro entity" definition outlined in Section 10(g) of the AIA. More information on the study can be found at the fee setting and adjusting webpage.

In addition to adding new outreach offices to the USPTO’s network, the UAIA also directed the USPTO to study whether any additional regional offices should be added in the future. Specifically, the UAIA required the USPTO to study if new offices were needed to: (1) achieve the statutory objectives envisioned by the AIA, as modified by the UAIA; and (2) increase participation in the patent system by individual inventors, small businesses, veterans, low-income populations, students, rural populations, and any other geographic group of innovators that may be underrepresented in patent filings. The full analysis was transmitted to Congress on December 27, 2024.

The UAIA directed USPTO to conduct a study to assess whether fees for small and micro entities inhibit the filing of patent applications, whether fees for application examination should approximately match examination costs, and the incentive effect of maintenance fees covering examination costs. It also sought to assess whether changes to the fee structure are needed and any recommendations for administrative and legislative action. 

The USPTO commissioned the study of the agency’s fee structure, which was conducted by academic economists Gaétan de Rassenfosse of Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, and Adam B. Jaffe of Brandeis University, United States, and Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, New Zealand. The full analysis was transmitted to Congress on December 27, 2024. In addition, the USPTO created a summary report that provides a high-level overview of the authors' findings. More information on the study can be found at the fee setting and adjusting webpage.

On December 29, 2023, the USPTO transmitted to Congress a study required by the UAIA that examined the efficacy of the USPTO’s patent pro bono programs. The study looked at data captured from the patent pro bono programs since 2015, comments solicited through two public listening sessions, and written comments submitted via a Federal Register Notice. The study determined that the Patent Pro Bono Program is expanding access to the patent system to financially under resourced independent inventors and small businesses. 

The UAIA directed that the USPTO establish a pilot program to assist first-time prospective patent applicants in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of their potential patent applications. The program is designed to help prospective patent applicants assess if their invention is novel in the art by providing search assistance using public patent search tools. Thus far, three workshops were held in 2024 and served 46 attendees. Given the positive feedback, four additional sessions are being planned for 2025.