University of Utah to expand innovation support across West in partnership with USPTO

Federal patent officials celebrated a new community engagement office's opening in Research Park.

SALT LAKE CITY, March 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Utah has entered into a new agreement with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to host a community engagement office on the U campus, strengthening access to intellectual property (IP) education, resources and expertise for students, entrepreneurs, businesses and communities across the Intermountain West.

Under the agreement announced on Feb. 19 by the USPTO, the U campus will provide a home for a USPTO presence in Salt Lake City, powering a hub for education and outreach under the Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022. The partnership allows the USPTO to immediately begin delivering vital services and building relationships that support innovation, economic growth and inclusive participation in the nation's intellectual property system.

"This partnership reflects the University of Utah's long-standing commitment to fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship," University of Utah President Taylor Randall said. "By hosting the USPTO on our campus, the U is helping ensure that inventors, students, startups and established businesses across Utah have greater access to the tools and knowledge they need to protect ideas and bring new technologies to market."

As America's innovation agency, the USPTO's mission is to drive U.S. innovation, inclusive capitalism and global competitiveness. Through this collaboration with the U, the USPTO will deliver intellectual property education and outreach to university students and staff, as well as to members of surrounding communities. Programming will include monthly public seminars, weekly office hours led by USPTO employees and additional events focused on patents, trademarks, branding and related IP topics. Many offerings will also be available virtually to reach a broader regional audience.

"A strong and robust innovation system depends on expansive eligibility, broad access and up-front engagement with the vibrant communities driving research and discovery," said John A. Squires, undersecretary for Intellectual Property and director of the USPTO.  "By partnering with the University of Utah, we are meeting innovators where their ideas happen—in the classrooms, laboratories and startups—and ensuring that America's innovation agency is there at the very beginning of the innovation journey."

The initiative is designed to serve a wide and diverse audience, including current university students and staff, high school students and their families, law students, attorneys interested in intellectual property, individual inventors, small businesses, veterans, rural residents and others who have traditionally been underrepresented in the innovation economy. Programming will also connect participants to public and private resources available to prospective patent applicants, including pro bono programs.

USPTO officials noted that the partnership with the U is essential to effectively delivering these services in Utah and the West. The new community engagement office location will serve innovators in part of the eight-state area formerly serviced by the Rocky Mountain Regional Outreach Office in Colorado. The eight-state area includes Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Nebraska.

Located in the heart of the Mountain West, the University of Utah offers the facilities, expertise and community connections needed to support robust education and outreach. The university is widely recognized for its leadership in advanced manufacturing and innovation, computer science and biomedical engineering, supporting everyone from individual inventors to major corporations as they design, test and commercialize new technologies.

Last year, the U filed a record 542 patent disclosures and recently made the list of top 100 universities globally for securing patents. According to the National Academy of Inventors' (NAI) 2025 Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents, the U ranked 81st with 46 U.S. patents awarded last year.

The U's strengths also include the Price College of Engineering, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine and various research hubs. Together, these assets position the U campus as a solid anchor for the USPTO's outreach efforts.

As part of the agreement, the USPTO will place up to three full-time employees on the U campus, starting at the Myriad Genetics building in Research Park, for an initial one-year period, with the option to extend by mutual agreement. Leading the team is Ken Takeda, interim acting director of the USPTO's Mountain West Community Engagement Office. As the longest-serving regional outreach officer, Takeda helped establish USPTO's western office in California's Silicon Valley and oversaw its daily operations for more than a decade. Now, he looks forward to working closely with emerging inventors.

"The community engagement offices allow us to be more agile," Takeda said. "We can customize the resources and information we provide the public to meet the needs of the communities by focusing on the technologies and issues driving innovation in the region."

Squires spoke at the office's grand opening celebration on Friday morning, Feb. 20.  Joining him was Jamie P. Dwyer, a nephrologist serving as the U's Executive Associate Vice President of Research and Interim Chief Innovation Officer.

USPTO staff will hold weekly office hours at the campus office to assist with researching patents and trademarks and navigating the intellectual property system. The USPTO will also collaborate with the university to develop seminar topics, select speakers and promote programming through federal communication channels.

The U will provide shared office space for USPTO staff, likely at the S.J. Quinney College of Law and the Technology Licensing Office, host event information on university websites and social media, assist in identifying speakers and integrate USPTO activities into the state's broader innovation ecosystem. The university will also create opportunities for classroom engagement and student learning tied directly to real-world intellectual property challenges.

Together, the U and the USPTO will explore opportunities to expand public awareness of intellectual property beyond the campus and across the region, further strengthening Utah's innovation economy. By bringing federal intellectual property expertise directly to campus and community, the partnership underscores the U's role as a regional leader in innovation, connecting education, research and public service to help ideas move from inspiration to impact.

For additional information about this partnership, read here.

MEDIA & PR CONTACTS

• Brian Maffly Science writer, University of Utah Communications
  801-573-2382 [email protected]

Amanda Ashley Director of Communications for Research & Innovation, Office of the Vice President for Research
(385) 495-4540 [email protected]

SOURCE The University of Utah