It is with great regret that the United States Patent and Trademark Office must cancel our 18th Annual Independent Inventors Conference scheduled for October 11th and 12th at our headquarters. While the USPTO remains open during the general government shutdown that began October 1, 2013 by using prior year reserve fee collections to operate as usual for approximately four weeks, difficult decisions have to be made to ensure core patent and trademark operations are maintained for as long as possible. It is this agency’s intent to reschedule this conference, which has long proven to be of great value to the U.S. innovation community, after the government resumes full operation. Stay tuned for more information as it is available.

It is