In-Person Resources
- USPTO regional outreach offices promote innovation and stimulate the economy by connecting entrepreneurs to government resources, support students and teachers through our STEM education programs, gather feedback from regional stakeholders, and recruit diverse talent from the region. Find your closest regional outreach office
- The Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) Program manages a nationwide network of academic, public, and state libraries that work to provide the public with various trademark and patent assistance. Learn more about PTRCs.
Free Services
The USPTO offers a wide range of IP resources, including application assistance, education and training, help appealing or fixing application issues, and other services that support the full spectrum of customers—from independent patent and trademark filers, to attorneys and business advisors. See the full suite of services.
Programs and Events
- The Path to a Patent quarterly series covers everything from intellectual property basics, to patent searching, to what you’ll need to draft and submit your patent application.
- The Trademark Basics Boot Camp series provides a comprehensive overview of the process for federal trademark registration and maintaining a federal trademark.
- The Women’s Entrepreneurship (WE) initiative provides a community-focused program that lifts women up and taps their potential to increase equity, job creation, and economic prosperity through their ideas, insights and innovations.
IP and Patent Assistance
- Learn how to identify which of your creative ideas might be intellectual property assets and how to protect them by using the USPTO Intellectual Property (IP) Identifier
- The Inventors Assistance Center (IAC) provides patent assistance and information to the public. The IAC is staffed by former supervisory patent examiners and primary examiners who are available to answer questions and to help you make filing a patent application simple and efficient.
- The Patent Pro Bono Program is a nationwide network of independently operated regional programs that matches volunteer patent attorneys and agents with financially underresourced inventors and small businesses to provide free legal assistance in securing patent protection.
- The Law School Clinic Certification Program includes over 60 participating law school clinics that provide legal services pro bono to the public, including to inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.
- The Pro Se Assistance Program aims to increase the quality of pro se patent applications (applications filed without the assistance of a registered patent attorney or agent) and assist pro se applicants with making informed decisions regarding their patent applications.
- The First-Time Filer Expedited Examination Pilot Program is designed to increase accessibility to the patent system for inventors who are new to the patent application process, including those in historically underserved geographic and economic areas.
- The Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program is designed to positively impact the climate by accelerating the examination of patent applications for innovations that mitigate climate change.
