USPTO DIRECTOR DICKINSON PLEASED WITH SIGNING OF GSA LEASE FOR AGENCY'S CONSOLIDATED SPACE IN ALEXANDRIA

PRESS RELEASE

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced today that it has signed a lease with LCOR Alexandria, L.L.C. (LCOR) for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) space consolidation project. A ruling earlier today by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia paved the way for the lease agreement by dismissing a lawsuit filed by The Charles E. Smith Companies and three Alexandria citizens.

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.

"The decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is a major step forward in the USPTO’s long-awaited move to modern, consolidated facilities in Alexandria. This decision, which allowed GSA to award the 20-year lease, is a very important victory, coming on the heels of the project’s approval by the Alexandria City Council earlier this spring. The relocation into 21 ^st century offices will enable USPTO to provide even more efficient, high-quality protection to the innovations in technology that are fueling U.S. economic growth, " said Q. Todd Dickinson Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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.

GSA Press Release

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United States Patent and Trademark Office

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Last Modified: 7/4/2009 7:56:32 PM