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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO or USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification. The USPTO is "unique among federal agencies because it operates solely on fees collected by its users, and not on taxpayer dollars". Its "operating structure is like a business in that it receives requests for services—applications for patents and trademark registrations—and charges fees projected to cover the cost of performing the services () provide()".〔 The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia, after a 2005 move from the Crystal City area of neighboring Arlington, Virginia. The offices under Patents and the Chief Information Officer that remained just outside the southern end of Crystal City completed moving to Randolph Square, a brand-new building in Shirlington Village, on April 27, 2009. The head of the USPTO is Michelle K. Lee. She took up her new role on January 13, 2014, initially in a temporary Deputy role. On March 13, she formally took office as Director after being nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. She formerly served as the Director of the USPTO’s Silicon Valley satellite office.〔 The USPTO cooperates with the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) as one of the Trilateral Patent Offices. The USPTO is also a Receiving Office, an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examination Authority for international patent applications filed in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty. ==Mission== The USPTO mission is to "maintain[] a permanent, interdisciplinary historical record of all U.S. patent applications in order to fulfill objectives outlined in the United States Constitution".〔 The legal basis for the United States patent system is Article 1, Section 8, wherein the powers of Congress are defined. It states, in part: :"The Congress shall have Power...To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries". The PTO's mission is to promote "industrial and technological progress in the United States and strengthen the national economy" by: * Administering the laws relating to patents and trademarks; * Advising the Secretary of Commerce, the President of the United States, and the administration on patent, trademark, and copyright protection; and * Providing advice on the trade-related aspects of intellectual property. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States Patent and Trademark Office」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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