United States Patent and Trademark Office

President Obama smiles standing next to Yvonne Brill after presenting her with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation

President Obama smiles after presenting Yvonne Brill with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, October 21, 2011. | Photo by Arva Adams / USPTO

Who Should Receive a National Medal of Technology and Innovation?

The USPTO is accepting nominations for the 2012 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Awarded each year by the President of the United States, the medal is the nation's highest honor granted to groundbreaking inventors and innovators. The deadline for nominations is March 31, 2012.

Photo: bigstock.com/vladacanon

USPTO Selects Riverfront Site for New Detroit Office

With more than 100 new jobs for the city, the USPTO anticipates opening its new Detroit office in July 2012. The location is listed on the National Historic Registry and was the former home to Parke-Davis Laboratories as well as the Stroh’s Brewery Headquarters.

Map of US showing roadshow dates and locations

USPTO to Host Educational Public "Roadshow" Series on America Invents Act

The USPTO has planned a series of cross-country roadshows to discuss our proposed rules implementing various provisions of the America Invents Act. Look for them beginning in February.

Thomas Jefferson says, "I’M OFTEN CALLED THE FATHER OF INVENTION, BUT I DON’T NEED TO INVENT REASONS FOR YOU TO JOIN OUR TEAM OF PATENT EXAMINERS"

Apply by Jan. 31 to be a USPTO Patent Examiner

Yearning for a job that harnesses the power of innovation, and provides work/life balance? As a Patent Examiner with USPTO, you‘ll be working with the largest intellectual property rights entity in the nation.

Giant iPhones in the middle of the Madison building lobby, one with Steve Job's likeness and the others with copies of various patents.

Photo by Vince Greczanik / invent.org.

Popular Steve Jobs Exhibit Extends Run to February 25

Commemorating the far-reaching impact of Steve Jobs' entrepreneurship and innovation on our daily lives, the USPTO has extended until February 25 the free exhibit, The Patents and Trademarks of Steve Jobs: Art and Technology that Changed the World.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, with a sign, "Workout Tools and Innovative Gyms". A female mannequin is dressed in a traditional aerobics outfit with a pink headband and neon leotard.

The 1970s and 80s marked a time of radical change in the U.S. as Americans put forth a new meaning to "working out" as fitness became a status symbol. | Photo by Arva Adams / USPTO.

Museum Celebrates the Patents and Trademarks in Fitness

"Exercising Ingenuity" at the National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum highlights inventions, patents, and trademarks that have emerged from the fitness, nutrition, and exercise industries. Test your strength on coin-operated arcade machines, interact with the exhibits, and tighten up those abs on the fitness equipment.