On July 2, 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced the selection of Dallas, Texas as the location for one of its satellite patent offices, and it was the sole southern city chosen. The Dallas satellite office could provide an economic boost of over $400 million dollars to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The Dallas office is expected to open its doors by September 2014. The USPTO also selected Denver, Colorado; San Jose, California; and Detroit, Michigan as the other three locations for satellite offices. The USPTO's primary office will remain just outside Washington D.C., in Alexandria, Virginia.

Purpose of the Satellite Office Program

As a part of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA), Congress required the USPTO to establish three satellite offices by September 2014. With the establishment of the new offices, the USPTO should be able to increase outreach activities, enhance examiner retention, improve examiner-recruiting, decrease the patent application backlog, and improve patent examination quality. According to Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos, the satellite offices will allow the USPTO "to better recruit and retain talented patent professionals and allow the agency to better interact with the applicant community."