Activities
See how we’ve been celebrating 10 million patents and join in the fun.
Oval Office patent signing ceremony
U.S. patent number 10 million was issued on June 19, 2018, in a historic Oval Office ceremony. President Donald Trump signed the patent and presented it to Joseph Marron, the named inventor, and Thomas Kennedy, the CEO of Raytheon Company, which owns the patent. Also in attendance were Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and USPTO Director Andrei Iancu.
Scavenger hunt
Museums throughout the City of Alexandria, Virginia, have teamed up with the USPTO to offer a summer scavenger hunt of patent-related history. Participating museums include the Alexandria Black History Museum, Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, the Lyceum, Fort Ward Museum, and Friendship Firehouse Museum.
Walk of Progress
Consisting of 16 large-scale decal displays along the sidewalks of the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia, the “Walk of Progress” is a three-block graphics exhibit highlighting key inventions, inventors, and patent cover designs from the first 228 years of the American patent system.
Ten for 10 Million
See what patents have transformed the ways we live, work, and play in our collection. Want to participate? We're seeking writers, bloggers, historians, and technologists to take deep—and not so deep—dives into your favorite industry and highlight the 10 patented technologies that propelled it forward, or maybe the ones that sent it in an entirely new direction.