PRESS RELEASE #00-42 July 13, 2000 CONTACT: Kim Byars 703-305-8341 USPTO CELEBRATED SIGNING OF LEASE FOR CONSOLIDATED SPACE IN ALEXANDRIA On July 10, 2000, approximately 100 people attended a ceremony at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to celebrate the June 1 signing of USPTO's consolidated lease. Those joining USPTO Director, Q. Todd Dickinson and agency staff at the recognition ceremony included Alexandria City Mayor, Kerry Donley, representatives of the General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Attorney's Office, and members of various evaluation and partnership teams, and others who contributed to procuring the lease over the past decade. On June 1, 2000, GSA entered into a 20-year lease with LCOR Alexandria, L.L.C. (LCOR) for the USPTO space consolidation project. LCOR will develop almost 2 million square feet of office and related lease space for USPTO on the Carlyle site in Alexandria, Virginia. USPTO presently occupies rented space in 18 separate office buildings spanning a 1.1-mile area in Arlington, Virginia. USPTO's current facilities are in need of expansion and alterations to meet the agency's programmatic needs. USPTO, a user fee-funded agency of the United States, within the Department of Commerce, administers laws relevant to granting patents and registering trademarks. The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office advises the Secretary of Commerce and other Federal departments and agencies on intellectual property policy matters. Over 6 million patents have been issued since the first patent in 1790. Last year USPTO issued 161,000 patents and registered 104,000 trademarks. - # # # -