Join us for the Fort Worth Celebration of the Launch
of the Texas Regional United States Patent
and Trademark Office!

We invite you to join us for a special celebration of the grand opening of the US Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Texas Regional Office. Based in Dallas, the regional office will build on the USPTO's existing collaborations within the Fort Worth community to offer resources and programs to a wide variety of audiences, including small businesses, startups, angel investors and more. Come and learn about the new office and what it will be bringing to Fort Worth and the entire region!

Register Now! 

Special Guests Include:

Congressman Marc Veasey  Congressman Veasey is the sophmore United States Representative for the 33rd Congressional District of Texas. Veasey is an advocate for Texas’ middle-class families and has made it his top priority to work to help create and incentivize the creation of good, sustainable American jobs, while providing Texans with a stronger voice on job creation and economic policy.

Rep. Veasey comes to Congress with over a decade of public service experience and has established himself as a strong and effective advocate who finds fair-minded and balanced solutions to problems.

As a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Veasey serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.  With over 15 major military installations in Texas, defense and scientific research and development are key industries in the 33rd District.  In the 114th Congress, Rep. Veasey proudly accepted his appointment by U.S House Democratic Minority Whip, Steny Hoyer, MD-5, to serve as an Assistant Whip and Regional Whip.

Congressman Veasey is committed to creating jobs, encouraging economic growth, improving public education, promoting immigration reform and ensuring access to quality healthcare.  

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price As Price likes to say, “It’s Your Fort Worth.” She understands a city is nothing without an active and engaged citizenry. Shortly after being elected as mayor, Price made quick work of starting a movement to get young people more involved in driving local public policy. The response to her call to young adults was overwhelming. Within a matter of months, citizens under the age of 40 from across the city came together, set a charge and dubbed themselves SteerFW. The organization has grown to more than 300-strong, with various task forces tackling some of the cities toughest challenges.

A strong fiscal conservative, Price applied the skills she garnered as a business owner and from a decade of service as Tarrant County’s Tax Assessor to tightening the city’s belt. With a close eye on the bottom line, Price has been a consistent champion of using responsible and sustainable budget cuts to balance the city’s $1.2 billion budget. Additionally, Price and the City Council made bold changes to the city’s pension plan in 2012 to protect taxpayers and stabilize the fund for current and future retirees.

Price also believes in the power of doing public good with private investment. Putting to good use her decades of experience building personal and professional bridges, Price matched generous benefactors with community needs to help the city with everything from health and fitness, to public engagement, to public pools, to animal adoptions and more.

USPTO Deputy Director Russell Slifer  As Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Russell Slifer provides strategic leadership and oversight to one of the largest intellectual property offices in the world.

 Mr. Slifer has served as the Director of the Rocky Mountain Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office, where he led efforts to foster business and technological innovation. His team promoted economic development and intellectual property knowledge throughout the Rocky Mountain region.  He encouraged increase cooperation between USPTO stakeholders, the patent and trademark applicants, the intellectual property bar, businesses, and the education community in the region.  In addition, Mr. Slifer advised the USPTO on a variety of policy matters.

Before joining the USPTO, Mr. Slifer served as Chief Patent Counsel for Micron Technology in Boise, Idaho where he developed an effective worldwide patent portfolio strategy.  He was also a Principal at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner in Minneapolis, advising a wide range of high-technology clients from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies on intellectual property matters.  

 

Drew Hirshfeld, Commissioner for Patents - Drew Hirshfeld is Commissioner for Patents for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He was appointed to this position in July 2015.

As Commissioner for Patents, Mr. Hirshfeld manages and leads the patent organization as its chief operating officer. He is responsible for managing and directing all aspects of this organization which affect administration of patent operations, examination policy, patent quality management, international
patent cooperation, resources and planning, and budget administration.

In his previous role as Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy,
Mr. Hirshfeld served as an authority on patent laws, rules, and examining practice and procedure, and provided administrative oversight and direction for the activities of the Office of Petitions, Office of Patent Legal Administration, and the Office of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. Further, Mr. Hirshfeld established patent examination and documentation policy standards for the Commissioner for Patents.

 Prior to serving as Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, Mr. Hirshfeld was the Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. Mr. Hirshfeld began his career at the USPTO in 1994 as a Patent Examiner. He became a Supervisory Patent Examiner in 2001, and was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 2008 as a Group Director in Technology Center 2100, Computer Architecture and Software.

Mr. Hirshfeld received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Vermont, and a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law.