PRESS RELEASE #00-06 January 31, 2000 CONTACT: Brigid Quinn Maria Victoria Hernandez 703-305-8341 PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE INTRODUCES ONLINE MAGAZINE The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) recently unveiled PTO TODAY, an online magazine targeted at PTO's external customers. The PTO TODAY online magazine is published monthly and focuses on inside views and actions of the agency and its leadership. The contents of PTO TODAY are the direct result of customer responses to a survey asking what they would like to see in a monthly publication. In keeping with customer preferences, PTO TODAY will offer readers practical information, such as tips to make filing patent and trademark applications easier and a monthly column focusing on the Commissioner's priorities for the agency. In addition, the magazine will feature stories that will keep PTO's customers up-to-date on legislative and policy changes, new programs, and current events. Plans for PTO TODAY include a quarterly print version that will be distributed free of charge to subscribers. "I am very excited that the agency now has this ongoing forum to discuss topics that are of interest to our customers," said Q. Todd Dickinson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. "I look forward to sharing information on issues that are critical to enhancing the agency's responsiveness to our customers' needs and expectations." The January 2000 edition of the PTO TODAY is now available on PTO's web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/ptotoday/. The PTO is the Commerce Department’s user fee-funded bureau that administers laws relevant to granting patents and registering trademarks; advises the Secretary of Commerce, the President of the United States, and the Administration on patent, trademark and copyright protection; and advises the Secretary of Commerce, the President of the United States, and the Administration on the trade-related aspects of intellectual property. Over 6 million patents have been issued since the first patent in 1790. Last year PTO issued 161,000 patents and registered 104,000 trademarks. # # #