For only the second time in a hundred years, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has redesigned the patent grant cover. Often decorated with an iconic ribbon and seal, patent covers are what are generally thought of as the physical award document issued to inventors.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office unveiled a new design for U.S. patents at a ceremony at the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, TX. The new design debuts on patent number 10,000,000. It is only the second time the patent design has changed in 100 years. L-R: Robert Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet; Drew Hirshfeld, USPTO Commissioner for Patents; Andrei Iancu, Director of the USPTO; and Susann Keohane, IBM Master Inventor. (Jay Premack/USPTO)