We all have a direct interest in expanding access to intellectual property resources and federal innovation infrastructure in the Southeast. We at InnoVision have taken liberty to draft a letter of support for an office location in the Greenville-Spartanburg metro area, which responds to the questions set forth in the Federal Register notice; it is pasted below. We ask that you please consider writing a letter of your own to the USPTO to support this effort. Letters must be emailed to: NewOffices@uspto.gov by March 30th at 5:00 EST.
Thank you for your support of innovation in South Carolina!
March 19, 2026
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Submitted via email to: NewOffices@uspto.gov
Re: Comment Submission USPTO Southeast Community Outreach Office Location; Nomination of Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina
Why Greenville-Spartanburg
Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina is exceptionally well-suited for a USPTO Community Outreach Office. The region has emerged as one of the fastest-growing innovation corridors in the Southeast, anchored by a robust industrial base, a rapidly expanding entrepreneurial ecosystem, and a cluster of higher education institutions that serve as natural partners for the community-based programming that Congress has specifically identified as a COO’s core purpose.
The region’s demographic and geographic profile aligns closely with the populations the COO statute is designed to reach: individual inventors working without institutional support, small businesses navigating IP for the first time, veterans transitioning into entrepreneurship, low-income innovators, students, and rural communities across the Upstate and Piedmont that remain underrepresented in patent filings. A local USPTO presence would bridge the gap and connect these populations with the resources including the patent pro bono program.
Greenville-Spartanburg brings together assets rarely found in a single mid-sized metropolitan area: a major advanced manufacturing base, a research university presence anchored by Clemson, an active entrepreneurial community, and a civic culture built around cross-sector collaboration. This is not a market the USPTO would need to cultivate from the ground up, it is one where a Community Outreach Office would find immediate traction.
Key Regional Strengths include:
- Central Southeast corridor location with efficient access to populations across South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee via I-85 and other major highways
- Rapidly expanding innovation ecosystem anchored by Clemson University and CU-ICAR, supported by a growing constellation of regional institutions and collaborative pipelines
- One of the largest advanced manufacturing concentrations in the United States, and associated supplier network, generating significant patent-eligible innovation
- An active and growing startup and entrepreneurial networks already convening founders, operators, and investors across the region
- A collaborative civic environment in which public agencies, private companies, and academic institutions routinely work together
- A cost-effective location for office operations and community programming
- Demonstrated gaps in patent filings among rural communities, first-generation founders, and other underrepresented populations that the COO program is designed to serve
- A market where innovation activity is growing, yet many innovators remain early in their IP journey
Desired Services in a USPTO Community Outreach Office
Congress has identified two core purposes for Community Outreach Offices: first, to partner with local organizations, institutions of higher education, research institutions, and businesses to create tailored community-based programs on the patent system and the career benefits of innovation and entrepreneurship; and second, to educate prospective inventors about all public and private resources available to patent applicants, with particular emphasis on the patent pro bono program.
Desired services which would fulfill both purposes in the Greenville-Spartanburg metro area include:
- Community-based patent education programming, developed in partnership with regional universities, technical colleges, incubators, and industry associations, with curriculum tailored to the region’s advanced manufacturing and applied engineering sectors
- Career and entrepreneurship programming highlighting the professional and economic benefits of innovation targeted to students, early-career researchers, and workforce participants at technical colleges and university partners
- Comprehensive resource navigation for first-time filers
- Targeted outreach programs for each of the populations identified in the COO statute: individual inventors, small businesses, veterans, low-income populations, students, and rural communities
- Office hours/mentorship access connecting local innovators with USPTO staff expertise
- Commercialization guidance linking IP strategy to business development outcomes
Advocacy for Both In-Person and Virtual Service Delivery
Physical presence is not a convenience; it is frequently the deciding factor in whether underserved innovators engage at all. For rural entrepreneurs, first-generation founders, and researchers at smaller institutions, a local office staffed by people familiar with the regional landscape creates the conditions for genuine, sustained community partnerships that virtual programming alone cannot replicate.
In addition, virtual programming meaningfully extends the office’s reach into rural communities across neighboring states, enables scalable workshops and training, and sustains engagement between in-person events.
Recommended Collaborative Partners
The Greenville-Spartanburg region already has strong institutional relationships across sectors. The organizations below represent natural partners for the community-based programming and inventor education that are the COO’s statutory charge:
- Universities and applied research institutions (Clemson University, Furman University, Wofford College, University of South Carolina Upstate)
- Technical colleges and workforce development programs (Greenville Technical College, Spartanburg Community College, Tri-County Technical College)
- Startup incubators, accelerators, and co-working hubs (NextGEN, Flywheel)
- Manufacturing alliances and advanced industry clusters (Supplier networks, Upstate SC Alliance, South Carolina Research Authority – SCRA)
- Regional and state economic development organizations (SC Department of Commerce, Greenville Area Development Corporation)
- Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and SCORE chapters
- Venture networks and angel investment groups
- Veteran entrepreneurship and business transition programs
Potential Co-Location Partners
When IP services are available inside spaces that entrepreneurs and researchers already frequent, the office benefits from existing traffic and institutional trust. Potential co-location partners include:
- Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR)
- The Hill Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Furman University
- Greenville Technical College or Spartanburg Community College
- Regional entrepreneurship hubs such as SCRA, NextGEN or Flywheel Co-working
Geographic Location: This is Greenville.
The Greenville-Spartanburg area is well positioned on all key dimensions: the strength of existing industry-university collaboration pipelines, cost efficiency for office operations and community programming, regional accessibility and transportation infrastructure, and the presence of underrepresented inventor populations who would directly benefit from local outreach.
Innovation in the Southeast is no longer confined to a few large metropolitan areas. Entrepreneurs, engineers, and researchers in mid-sized cities are building real solutions, supported by industry partners, technical colleges, and universities that know how to work together. Placing a USPTO Community Outreach Office in Greenville-Spartanburg would position the agency at the center of these ecosystems, within reach of a multi-state region, and directly in service of the communities Congress designed this program to reach.
Respectfully submitted,
South Carolina InnoVision Awards