2012
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 12-008
       
       
       BY SENATOR(S) Shaffer B. and Cadman, Aguilar, Bacon, Boyd,
       Brophy, Carroll, Foster, Giron, Grantham, Guzman, Harvey, Heath,
       Hodge, Hudak, Jahn, Johnston, King K., King S., Lambert, Lundberg,
       Mitchell, Morse, Neville, Newell, Nicholson, Renfroe, Roberts, Scheffel,
       Schwartz, Spence, Steadman, Tochtrop, White, Williams S.;
       also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Summers and Kagan, Ferrandino, Acree,
       Balmer, Barker, Baumgardner, Becker, Beezley, Bradford, Brown,
       Casso, Conti, Coram, Court, DelGrosso, Duran, Fields, Fischer, Gardner
       B., Gerou, Hamner, Holbert, Hullinghorst, Jones, Joshi, Kefalas, Kerr A.,
       Kerr J., Labuda, Lee, Levy, Liston, Looper, Massey, McCann, McKinley,
       McNulty, Miklosi, Murray, Nikkel, Pabon, Pace, Peniston, Priola,
       Ramirez, Ryden, Schafer S., Scott, Solano, Sonnenberg, Soper, Stephens,
       Swalm, Swerdfeger, Szabo, Todd, Tyler, Vaad, Vigil, Waller, Williams
       A., Wilson, Young.
       
       
          CONCERNING THE STATE OF COLORADO'S SUPPORT FOR
       LOCATING A PATENT OFFICE IN THE DENVER METRO AREA. 
       
       
          WHEREAS, The United States Patent and Trademark Office
       (USPTO) is currently gathering information on potential locations for
       future USPTO satellite offices, which the USPTO has been directed to
       establish under Section 23 of the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act";
       and
       
          WHEREAS, An initial satellite office is slated to open in Detroit,
       Michigan, and, subject to available resources, the USPTO will establish
       at least two more satellite patent and trademark offices in other U.S.
       cities; and
       
          WHEREAS, The USPTO is seeking to locate future offices in an area
       of the country that offers a highly educated workforce, access to
       universities with strong engineering programs, public transportation
       infrastructure and major airport access, quality of life and reasonable
       cost-of-living expenses, and the ability to share facilities with other
       established governmental operations, among other factors; and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado meets these criteria and offers many additional
       amenities that should appeal to the USPTO; and
       
          WHEREAS, The State of Colorado fully supports and encourages the
       location of a satellite patent office in our fine state; and
       
          WHEREAS, There are many reasons for choosing Colorado, first of
       which is that opening an office in Colorado will permit the USPTO to
       recruit and hire from some of the best candidates the U.S. has to offer;
       and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado is home to a large number of technology
       workers, and the technology workforce in Colorado is consistently ranked
       in the Top 10 in the U.S. in a number of important categories; and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado is ranked 2nd in the nation for percentage of
       workers with a Bachelor's Degree or higher, 6th for number of workers
       with Science and Engineering degrees per capita, and 11th for number of
       patents per 1,000,000 residents; and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado also offers access to many research universities
       with strong and highly rated engineering and computer science programs,
       including the Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado,
       University of Denver, and Colorado State University; and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado is a key center for innovation and market
       applications in renewable energy, advanced materials, and the responsible
       development of clean-burning natural gas; and
       
          WHEREAS, The Denver metro region is home to the highest number
       of federal employees per capita outside of Washington, D.C., and,
       because of this, the region offers a unique ability to share facilities with
       other established governmental offices; and
       
          WHEREAS, Denver International Airport, which is the largest airport
       in the U.S., has 14 carriers providing daily nonstop flights to over 160
       cities, and the Regional Transportation District services the front range
       of Colorado with excellent public transportation, including bus and light
       rail service, that is part of a recent $7.9 billion region-wide mass transit
       expansion; and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado is an extremely desirable place to live, and
       locating a patent office in Colorado would allow the USPTO to
       dramatically improve its ability to recruit and retain valuable employees;
       and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado's cities and towns appear frequently in national
       rankings of the best places to live and work as well as being among the
       most attractive venues in the nation for business development; and
       
          WHEREAS, An unparalleled combination of spectacular scenery,
       recreational opportunities, moderate climate (annually, Colorado has
       more than 300 days of sunshine per year), excellent facilities for arts and
       culture, and world-class health care and public school systems make
       Colorado an ideal place to call home; and
       
          WHEREAS, In addition, access to an efficient and productive patent
       office is critical to Colorado companies and to the economy of our state;
       and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado is eager and excited at the prospect of
       welcoming a satellite patent and trademark office to our state; now,
       therefore,
       
          Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-eighth General Assembly of
       the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:
       
          That we, the members of the General Assembly, formally express the
       State of Colorado's and the State Legislature's support for the location of
       a patent satellite office in our state, and encourage the USPTO to
       carefully consider all of the factors that make Colorado and the Denver
       metro area the ideal location for a new office.
       
                    Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this Joint Resolution be sent to
       USPTO Director David Kappos.
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Brandon C. Shaffer                     Frank McNulty
       PRESIDENT OF                    SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES
       
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Cindi Markwell                        Marilyn Eddins
       SECRETARY OF                CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES