Helping set a stage for success to Atlanta’s entrepreneurs, Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos was in the Georgia capital this afternoon to help launch Startup Atlanta. Created by the city’s economic development agency, Invest Atlanta, the initiative seeks to connect entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed.

A hallmark for Startup Atlanta is an online platform that will serve as a network for entrepreneurs while simultaneously mapping out valuable resources such as incubators, accelerators, service providers and connections.

At the event, Kappos addressed the importance of a vibrant local entrepreneur community. “Not only do the novel ideas of Georgia’s entrepreneurs have the potential to move the pulse of an industry or transform the welfare of a community,” Kappos said, “They can also attract critical resources and capital for additional research and development, creating a host of new markets and new opportunities.”

Director Kappos has been on the road recently setting the groundwork for the USPTO’s new offices slated to open in Dallas, Denver and Silicon Valley. He’s also planning visits to other communities to speak on the importance of innovation in our economy, such as at an October session at the University of California-Davis. He’s also planning to speak about the importance of leveraging IP to identify economic solutions in the 21st century at the coming World Economic Forum.

“There’s no better time to educate the public about the improvements to the IP system coming from the America Invents Act,” Kappos told the crowd in Atlanta, “As our country seeks to regain the eight million jobs lost during the recent recession, the USPTO is a great place to start. Countless inventions that can spark new businesses are sitting in patent applications.”

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Invest Atlanta President and CEO Brian McGowan, and Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson were all present to promote the Startup Atlanta initiative.