The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is finally establishing a permanent home for a Silicon Valley satellite office, and the region’s patent attorneys are elated.
“It’s a big deal,” says Doug Luftman, vice president of innovation services and chief intellectual property counsel for the storage and data management company NetApp Inc.
“It’s about time,” adds Karineh Khachatourian, the managing partner of Duane Morris’ Silicon Valley office.
There is no note of sarcasm—no tinge of cynicism—in these statements. Attorneys and companies in the Bay Area are genuinely delighted that the PTO is recognizing the region’s importance to innovation in the United States. Their joy stems partially from the practicality of having a PTO branch on their doorstep rather than 3,000 miles away. But the real excitement comes out of the hope that with the office in place, the Silicon Valley view of the patent world—a view that area attorneys say is decidedly different from that of the rest of the country—will finally filter out across the country and take root at the PTO.
