The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has selected North Carolina State University as the location of a new Community Engagement Office serving Research Triangle Park and the surrounding region.
Located on NC State’s Centennial Campus in Raleigh, the new office will expand access to intellectual property education, resources, and outreach for inventors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, researchers, students, and other members of the region’s growing innovation community.
For the Research Triangle, the announcement is another indication of the region’s increasing significance as a center for research, technology development, entrepreneurship, and commercialization.
A Region Built Around Research and Innovation
The USPTO highlighted the scale of research and innovation taking place throughout the Triangle as part of its announcement.
According to National Science Foundation data cited by the USPTO, NC State, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill together accounted for approximately $3.9 billion in research and development expenditures in 2024. The USPTO also reported that the number of patents filed by North Carolina residents increased 35% between 2019 and 2024.
Those figures reflect a larger trend that has been developing throughout the region for years.
The Research Triangle brings together major research universities, established technology companies, startups, research institutions, investors, incubators, and a highly educated workforce. This combination has created an environment in which new technologies and ideas are not only being developed but increasingly commercialized and brought to market.
That growth was one of the reasons Schmeiser Olsen established its Raleigh office in 2025. As a firm focused exclusively on intellectual property, the Triangle offered an opportunity to be closer to one of the country’s increasingly important innovation communities.
The USPTO’s decision to expand its own engagement infrastructure in Raleigh provides another indication of the region’s continued momentum.
Bringing Additional Intellectual Property Resources to the Triangle
The new Community Engagement Office will serve as an intellectual property hub for the broader Research Triangle innovation ecosystem, including the area’s colleges and universities.
USPTO Community Engagement Offices are designed to provide convenient access to intellectual property education and outreach and to help stakeholders engage with the intellectual property system earlier in the application process. Their services are intended to reach individual inventors, small businesses, students, veterans, rural communities, and other groups seeking greater access to intellectual property resources.
In addition to patent-related assistance, the NC State office will provide entrepreneurs and small businesses with information about federal trademark registration.
The USPTO has also identified name, image, and likeness (NIL) protection as an area of focus for the new office. This may be particularly relevant to student-athletes and others seeking to commercialize and protect their personal brands.
The office is also expected to collaborate with local STEM organizations, intellectual property practitioners, startups, accelerators, and other participants in the region’s innovation ecosystem on educational and outreach programming.
Expanding the USPTO’s Community Engagement Network
The NC State location will become part of the USPTO’s growing network of Community Engagement Offices across the United States.
With the addition of North Carolina, the USPTO will operate six Community Engagement Offices through university partnerships in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, and Utah.
Rather than establishing entirely new facilities, these offices leverage partnerships and existing infrastructure within local innovation communities. The approach is intended to bring USPTO resources closer to the inventors, businesses, universities, and organizations developing and commercializing new ideas.
For the Research Triangle, placing the office on NC State’s Centennial Campus puts those resources directly within one of the region’s major centers for research, entrepreneurship, and industry collaboration.
Another Step Forward for Raleigh and the Research Triangle
The significance of the USPTO’s announcement extends beyond the addition of another government office.
Successful innovation ecosystems depend on the infrastructure surrounding the ideas being developed within them. Universities conduct research. Entrepreneurs form companies. Investors provide capital. Businesses bring technologies to market. Intellectual property professionals help innovators protect and commercialize what they create. Public institutions provide education, outreach, and access to additional resources.
The USPTO’s decision to establish a presence at NC State adds another piece to that infrastructure.
For companies and inventors already working in the Triangle, and for those considering locating in the region, the announcement is another sign that Raleigh and the surrounding Research Triangle continue to mature as a place where technology, business, research, and intellectual property intersect.
Schmeiser Olsen opened its Raleigh office because we believed the Triangle’s combination of research, entrepreneurship, technology, and business growth made it an increasingly important market for intellectual property.
The USPTO’s latest investment in the region reinforces that view.
Read the USPTO announcement: https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-selects-north-carolina-its-expanding-community-engagement
Learn more about Schmeiser Olsen’s Raleigh office: https://schmeiserolsen.com/contact/raleigh-north-carolina-office/
Looking to Protect Your Intellectual Property?
Please contact Jason Murphy at Schmeiser, Olsen & Watts LLP at jmurphy@iplawusa.com.
About the Author
Jason A. Murphy is a Partner at Schmeiser Olsen and leads the firm’s Raleigh, North Carolina office. With more than 17 years at the firm, Jason focuses his practice on patent prosecution and portfolio development, advising multinational corporations, publicly traded companies, startups, and individual inventors on protecting and managing their intellectual property. His experience also includes post-grant proceedings before the USPTO, intellectual property strategy, licensing, due diligence, and trademark protection. Jason previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Albany Law School, where he taught Intellectual Property in Business Organizations. He is admitted to practice in North Carolina and New York and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
