More Colorado Business, Municipal Leaders Push for Patent Office in Denver as Decision Looms

Accelerate Colorado Letter to Commerce Secretary Makes Case for Denver

Accelerate Colorado, a partnership between businesses and local governments in Colorado, has sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson expressing the organization’s strong support for the establishment of a satellite office of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Colorado.   

The letter is part of a continuing effort Bennet is leading to make the case that Colorado’s highly educated and skilled work force, along with the state’s leadership in technological business development and innovation, make the state the perfect location for a Denver satellite office. 

“Colorado will put the USPTO at the center of one of the country’s most vibrant clusters of innovation, technological development, and economic growth,” said Bennet. “Accelerate Colorado’s letter is the latest example of a state that has coalesced in support of bringing a patent office here.  The widespread support throughout the state along with the economic and geographic advantages it provides make Colorado the best location for a new satellite office.”

Last year, Bennet secured an amendment, cosponsored by Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall, in the patent reform law that empowers the USPTO to establish three new satellite patent offices across the country. Over the past year, Bennet has led Colorado delegation letters to President Obama, Commerce Secretaries Gary Locke and Bryson and USPTO Director David Kappos encouraging them to consider Colorado for a job-creating satellite office. In January, a contingent of Colorado business leaders and Bennet staff traveled to Washington to present the package “Accelerating Innovation: The Case for a Satellite Patent Office in Colorado.”

The letter’s signees are:

  • Bryan D. Blakely, President, Accelerate Colorado
  • W.R. "Skip" Fischer, Commissioner, Adams County
  • Stephen D. Hogan, Mayor, City of Aurora
  • Wendy Mitchell, President and CEO, Aurora Economic Development Council
  • Bruce A. James, Managing Partner, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP
  • The Honorable Sean Ford Sr., Mayor, City of Commerce City
  • Michael B. Hancock, Mayor, City and County of Denver
  • Mike O'Donnell, Executive Director, Colorado Lending Source
  • Anthony A. Frank, Ph.D., President, Colorado State University
  • David McReynolds, President, Columbine Health Plan
  • Jack A. Hilbert, Commissioner, Chair, Douglas County
  • John Lehigh, Executive Vice President, Forest City
  • Kevin McCasky, President and CEO, Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation
  • Joanne M. Maguire, Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
  • Gary A. Thomas, President, Martin/Martin, Inc.
  • Ralph W. Christie, Jr., PE, Chairman and CEO, Merrick & Company
  • Michael F. Helmstetter, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, MRI Global
  • Bruce D. Benson, President, University of Colorado
  • Bruce Schroffel, President and Chairman, University of Colorado Health
  • Kay Norton, President, University of Northern Colorado
  • Jerome Davis, Regional Vice President, Xcel Energy
  • George Cox, Ph.D., President, Bolder Biotechnology, Inc.
  • Clif Harald, Executive Vice President, Boulder Chamber; Executive Director, Boulder Economic Council
  • Holli Riebel, President and CEO, Colorado Bioscience Association
  • Christine Shapard, Executive Director, Colorado Cleantech Industry Association
  • Kelly Brough, President and CEO, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
  • Neal Ingram, President, Emerson/MicroMotion
  • Jeffrey L. Popiel, President & CEO, Geotech Environmental Equipment, Inc.
  • Scott Green, Engineering Site Director, Google
  • Jon Maraschin, Executive Director, Grand Junction Business Incubator Center
  • Mary Stuart, Denver Office Managing Partner, Husch Blackwell, LLP
  • Tom Clark, Chief Executive Officer, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation; Executive Vice President, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
  • Walter J. Elish, President & CEO, Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation
  • Charles Corfield, CEO, nVoq, Inc.
  • Mark Spiecker, CEO, Sharklet Technologies, Inc.
  • Bruce A. Kugler, President, Sheridan Ross P.C.
  • Robert R. Brunelli, Vice President and Corporate Secretary, Sheridan Ross P.C.
  • Mark Sirangelo, Corporate Vice President, Space Board; Chairman, Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems
  • Jeff Holwell, Director, Economic Development Group, South Metro Denver Chamber
  • Robert D. Coombe, Chancellor, University of Denver
  • Adam S. Rentschler, Co?Founder and CEO, Valid Evaluation, Inc.
  • Jim Imbler, President & CEO, ZeaChem Inc.

The full text of the letter follows:

May 29, 2012

The Honorable John Bryson
Secretary
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20230

Dear Secretary Bryson:

We are writing to express our strong support for the establishment of a satellite office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Colorado. We understand a decision on this issue is forthcoming and we would like to reiterate how well Colorado is positioned to ensure that the USPTO fulfill its critical objective of driving innovation and guaranteeing American competitiveness. While you are no doubt familiar with many of the strong attributes in support of the Colorado satellite office, we would like to briefly detail how well the satellite office and the Colorado business community would complement one another.

As business and political leaders representing much of Colorado, we are most familiar with the capabilities of the local workforce and can personally attest to the high quality of technology workers that help drive our economy. As a result of a highly educated and skilled workforce, Colorado has become a national leader in technological business development and innovation. In addition, the desirability of Colorado as a place to live, along with its low cost of living, leads to a high retention rate of current workers and the continued successful recruitment of new workers looking for exciting opportunities. Thus, we strongly believe that a satellite office in Colorado would meet a key USPTO objective of greatly improving its ability to recruit and retain its most valuable employees.

During your visit to Colorado in October 2011, you had an opportunity to visit a number of our manufacturing facilities and witness first?hand our burgeoning advanced manufacturing sector. With over 5,000 manufacturers currently employing nearly 130,000 workers, Colorado continues to expand its leadership in this key area of innovation for the U.S. economy. The USPTO satellite office will not only complement these efforts, but in Colorado it would also drive additional technological development and innovation that would greatly benefit the state, the Rocky Mountain region, and the rest of the United States. Due in large part to these very synergies, an independent economic analysis has estimated a positive $440 million economic impact for the region in the first five years following the location of a satellite USPTO office in Colorado. (Please keep in mind this analysis was done prior to the announcement made on May 22 that United Airlines will begin daily non?stop trans?Pacific flights, from Tokyo to Denver, on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner beginning March 31, 2013, which will significantly increase the economic impact.)

From our talented workforce to our robust technology sector and global connectivity, Colorado provides a location rich in resources that will ensure the success of the USPTO satellite program. We appreciate your consideration and look forward to welcoming you to Colorado again in the near future for the opening of a new USPTO satellite office.

Sincerely,