How are Congressional and other official inquiries handled by the USPTO?

The USPTO has specific procedures for handling Congressional and other official inquiries to ensure uniformity and compliance with Department of Commerce directives:

• Inquiries from the White House, Members of Congress, embassies, and heads of Executive departments and agencies are typically processed through specialized offices.
• The Office of Policy and International Affairs and/or the Office of Governmental Affairs usually handle these inquiries.
• Specific types of correspondence are directed to appropriate offices for immediate attention.

According to the MPEP: Correspondence and inquiries from the White House, Members of Congress, embassies, and heads of Executive departments and agencies normally are cleared by the USPTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs and/or the Office of Governmental Affairs. (MPEP 203.08(a))

For specific types of inquiries:

• Embassies, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of State: Contact the Administrator of the Office of Policy and International Affairs at 571-272-9300.
• Congress or the White House: Contact the Director of the Office of Governmental Affairs at 571-272-7300.

This process ensures uniformity in the handling of contacts from the indicated sources, and also so that compliance with directives of the Department of Commerce is attained.

To learn more:

• Congressional inquiries
• official inquiries
• USPTO procedures
• Office of Policy and International Affairs
• Office of Governmental Affairs