As the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office considers opening satellite offices to deal with a surplus of innovation across the country, various congresscritters are lining up to tout their respective districts as the ideal locations for the enterprise.
We’d expect no less from 25th Congressional District Representative Lloyd Doggett, and in making his argument for Austin as a potential future home for processing patents, the congressman pays The University of Texas and the Libraries (noting the McKinney Engineering Library) a tribute in making us part of his case for the project.
From the relevant text (emphasis added):
“Central Texas’s academic research sector is also very strong and would be an excellent partner as the USPTO seeks to enhance public engagement. Of the top 250 R&D universities in the country, the universities in Texas earned the fourth largest number of patents. The University of Texas flagship campus is in Austin and is home to 150 research units, exceeding $642 million in research spending as a Tier 1 research university (2009-2010), and is a major national leader among research universities with the fourth highest level of patent earnings in the country. The University offers the only Master of Technology Commercialization degree program in the world, and UT Austin ranks in the top 10 in both Engineering and Computer Science. UT Austin is also ranked in the Top 10 of research libraries and its McKinney Engineering Library is a PTO depository library.“
It’s nice to know our leaders are paying attention.