University of South Florida Named Host for New USPTO Community Engagement Office Serving Florida and Southeast

Inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses across Florida and the southeastern United States will gain improved access to intellectual property resources through a newly established U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) community engagement office at the University of South Florida (USF).

The USPTO selected USF, a Tier 1 research university, to host this new office within the USF Research Park on its Tampa campus. The office will serve the Florida High Tech Corridor’s 23 counties and the broader Southeast region, providing critical support to individuals and organizations seeking to protect their inventions, ideas, and brands.

Community engagement offices by the USPTO are designed to increase accessibility to patent and trademark information, particularly targeting individual inventors, small businesses, veterans, students, and communities that may lack convenient access to USPTO services. Beyond assistance with patent filings, the office will offer guidance on federal trademark registration, helping entrepreneurs and small businesses safeguard their brands.

USF’s robust research enterprise forms a strong foundation for this initiative. The university has consistently ranked among the top 20 U.S. public research institutions for patent production over the past decade. Its key innovation areas include cybersecurity, therapeutics, medical devices, and artificial intelligence.

A notable example of USF’s innovation ecosystem is Digitomy, a startup founded by researchers Ryan Carney and Sriram Chellappan. Digitomy is developing SmartTrap, a patented device that captures and photographs mosquitoes and employs artificial intelligence to identify species that may transmit diseases. This technology aims to accelerate mosquito identification, enabling public health teams to better monitor populations and respond to disease threats.

Digitomy’s journey exemplifies how protecting intellectual property can facilitate the transition of promising research into impactful real-world applications. By situating USPTO resources closer to the communities it serves, the new office will empower more inventors and entrepreneurs, both within USF and beyond, to understand IP protection and advance their innovations toward commercialization.

The Tampa community engagement office is part of a broader USPTO strategy to expand support for inventors and entrepreneurs throughout the Southeast. This new office joins recently established USPTO community engagement centers in Atlanta, Georgia; Huntsville, Alabama; and Raleigh, North Carolina.

USF Technology Transfer plays a pivotal role in this ecosystem, working annually with hundreds of researchers to protect their inventions through patents, trademarks, and copyrights. The office facilitates the transfer of intellectual property from USF to the marketplace via licensing or partnerships with existing or newly formed companies, fostering the development of innovative technologies that benefit society.

For further information about USPTO offices and available patent and trademark resources, interested parties can visit the USPTO’s official office locations webpage.

This development marks a significant enhancement in intellectual property support infrastructure for Florida and the Southeast, reinforcing USF’s position as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.