The Patent and Trademark Office moved closer to moving to new quarters last week, when the General Services Administration signed a 20-year lease allowing development of new offices for the agency.
PTO's planned relocation to the new office complex in Alexandria, Va., hasn't been smooth. For two years, the agency has been fending off attempts by its current landlord, the Charles E. Smith Cos. of Arlington, Va., to thwart the move.
Last Thursday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the latest in a series of lawsuits filed by Smith Cos. The firm, as well as several Alexandria residents, had charged PTO with failing to follow government regulations in assessing the building project's impact on traffic congestion.
The decision "is a major step forward in the USPTO's long-awaited move to modern, consolidated facilities in Alexandria," Patent chief Q. Todd Dickinson said. "The relocation into 21st century offices will enable USPTO to provide even more efficient, high-quality protection to the innovations in technology that are fueling U.S. economic growth."
The 20-year, $1.3 billion lease went to LCOR Inc. of Berwyn, Pa. for a new five-building, 2-million-square-foot complex near Alexandria's King Street Metro station.
A government-funded study last year estimated PTO would save up to $72 million over 20 years by moving out of the Smith buildings into new facilities built specifically for the agency. The agency's current campus, located in Arlington Va.'s Crystal City, no longer meets government building regulations, and its 18 offices are inconveniently sprawled over a mile and a half.