The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office laid off employees on Wednesday as part of a reduction-in-force plan that has been in development for months, according to multiple sources and internal emails reviewed by Bloomberg Law.
The Alexandria-based agency cut positions across several departments, including the communications team, the Office of Public Engagement, and the Patents Unit, according to Bloomberg Law. The layoffs occur as the federal government shut down on Wednesday due to a funding impasse in Congress, although the USPTO remains open and operational, funded by operating reserves from fee collections.
Approximately 1% of the USPTO’s roughly 14,000-person workforce — about 140 people — was affected by the reduction in force, Acting Commissioner of Patents Valencia Martin Wallace wrote to staff in an email. Six positions in the patents unit were eliminated as the agency works to “focus on mission-critical operations,” Wallace said.
The reduction in force comes less than two weeks after the Senate confirmed John Squires as the new USPTO director in a 51-47 vote on September 19. Squires, a former law firm partner who previously chaired the IP and Emerging Companies Practice at Dilworth Paxson LLP, was sworn in in late September.
The layoffs appear to be part of a broader federal workforce restructuring effort outlined in a February memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management. That memo, part of President Donald Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative, directed agencies to develop reduction-in-force and reorganization plans by March 13 and instructed agencies to eliminate “waste, bloat, and insularity” while preparing for “large-scale reductions in force.”
“The timing suggests these RIFs have been in the works for seven months,” Brendan Duke, a policy analyst, wrote on X, noting the layoffs coincide with the Phase 2 timeline outlined in the February guidance.
PBS NewsHour correspondent Lisa Desjardins reported that RIFs at USPTO are unusual, noting the agency “likes to and can stay out of the news” in part because it is largely self-financed. Unlike most federal agencies, the USPTO operates entirely on user fees rather than taxpayer dollars and is not affected by the government shutdown.
In an email to staff, Squires said the reduction in force is “intended to focus resources on core operations and is not a reflection on anyone’s service, performance, or conduct.”
“Know that the decisions behind the changes announced were made after full and careful deliberation and the actions were taken with the utmost consideration for our workforce, stakeholders, and to be in full alignment with both the agency’s unique mission and the dynamic future that lies ahead,” Squires wrote. He added that the changes were “difficult” and that he would communicate in the coming days and weeks to discuss their impact.
The agency also announced Wednesday it will permanently close the Rocky Mountain Regional Outreach Office in Denver, citing high operating costs and changing operational needs. A typical regional office requires more than $1 million in leased office space and overhead expenses, according to the USPTO. As of December 2024, the Rocky Mountain office had fewer than 10 employees.
The 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act authorized the creation of three or more satellite offices for the USPTO. The agency later established five regional offices in Detroit, Dallas, Denver, San Jose, and Alexandria. The offices were created to increase outreach activities, enhance patent examiner retention, improve recruitment, and decrease patent application backlogs. Over time, the purpose of the offices evolved into an outreach function, and they were subsequently rebranded as “regional outreach offices.”
The closure aligns with an assessment in a December 2024 report to Congress in which the USPTO stated that “physical office space is less necessary because of: (1) the USPTO’s successful and data-driven telework policies (2) the planned establishment of community outreach offices that create a physical presence in those communities in which outreach and IP education are most needed, and (3) the increased popularity of virtual education and outreach events.”
With the Denver closure, the USPTO will maintain satellite offices in Detroit, Dallas, and Silicon Valley. However, the vast majority of operations will remain at the agency’s 11-building campus at 600 Dulany St. in Alexandria’s Carlyle neighborhood, which stretches between the King Street and Eisenhower Avenue Metro stations.
The USPTO employs over 13,500 federal workers total, including nearly 9,000 patent examiners and hundreds of trademark attorneys. The Alexandria campus was designed to accommodate a maximum of approximately 7,000 employees on-site, reflecting the agency’s significant reliance on remote work. The agency processed over 466,000 utility patent applications and nearly 767,000 trademark filings in fiscal year 2024.
