To access any of the services below, click the respective link or send us an email.

• Attend an upcoming event. We hold a variety of free events at our office for audiences of all ages including monthly programming about trademarks, patents, copyrights, and trade secrets.
• Consult on-site patent and trademark experts.
• Pick up free publications.
• Request a speaker at your event.
• Conduct an interview with your patent examiner (select "Public Interview Room," then "Detroit").
• Schedule a tour of the office.
• Schedule a K-12 event or teacher professional development workshop at your school.
• Reserve a public search workstation.
• Attend a Patent Trial and Appeal Board hearing. Visit the Hearing Schedule page for information on upcoming hearings.
• Find a patent attorney or patent agent near you.

Trying to file a patent or trademark application? The regional offices are unable to accept patent or trademark applications or related correspondence. Please consider using our online filing options: EFS-Web for patents or TEAS for trademarks. More about filing trademark applications. More about filing patent applications.

Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the Detroit Regional Office

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) conducts trials, including inter partes, post-grant, and covered business method patent reviews and derivation proceedings, hears appeals from adverse examiner decisions in patent applications and reexamination proceedings, and renders decisions in interferences.

You are welcome to view live PTAB proceedings taking place at the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office (MWRO). The Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office (MWRO) office hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST Monday through Friday. See the link below for upcoming hearings.

If you are interested in viewing a hearing that is being held at another location, contact the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office (MWRO)  via email: Midwestregion@uspto.gov at least three days in advance, so that appropriate arrangements for audio-visual services can be made. 

PTAB Hearing Schedule - Detroit PTAB Hearing Schedule - MainPTAB Home Page

Hearing room protocol and decorum

The dignity of the hearing room is to be respected and maintained at all times.

• Attire for counsel and spectators should be restrained and appropriate to the dignity of a courtroom. For example, the following are unacceptable: jeans, sweat pants, shorts, sundresses, t-shirts, flip-flops, and sandals. Noncompliance with these requirements may be cause for denial of entry into the hearing room.
• When a hearing is in session, no one should be heard except for counsel making argument or a judge.
• No personal recording devices of any kind (audio or visual) will be permitted in the hearing room.
• All cell phones or pagers must be turned off.
• No food or drink is permitted in the hearing room.
• Repeated entrances to, or departures from, the hearing room are to be avoided.
• Improper hearing room behavior may result in removal from the hearing room or other sanctions.

PTAB hearings accessible to individuals with disabilities. To request a reasonable accommodation, including captioning, sign language interpreting, or other, please email midwestregion@uspto.gov or call (313) 446-4800.

Our public search room has two workstations with the same search tools that USPTO employees use when examining patent and trademark applications. Their access requirements and print capabilities are the same as those in the Public Search Facility at USPTO headquarters. Our search room is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. 

 

General use:

• One workstation will be available for reservation per the guidelines below; the second station will remain a walk-up station for use on a first-come, first-served basis.
• The walk up station is limited to a maximum of three (3) hours per session if others are waiting.

Reservations:

• Reservations may be made by walk-in, calling (313-446-4800), or by emailing detroitpublicsearch@uspto.gov.  Please include the date and time requested along with an email address for confirmation.
• Reservations must be made 24 hours in advance.  An email confirmation will be sent.
• The reserved workstation may be reserved in two (2) hour blocks.  You may reserve the workstation consecutively for up to three sessions.
• Users are encouraged to contact the office to cancel their reservation, as soon as possible, if they will not be coming in.
• The Regional Director and Regional Assistant Director have the authority to bar users who misuse the workstations or the reservation system.

Are you new to patent or trademark searching? We encourage you to visit the Detroit Public Library - Main Branch (DPL), which is a Patent and Trademark Resource Center. DPL librarians are trained by the USPTO to provide an introduction to the patent and trademark application process.

The USPTO collections can also be searched online using PatFT and AppFT for patents and TESS for trademarks.

We have a number of collaboration spaces that are intended for public use. These rooms may be configured to suit events of all sizes and are equipped with whiteboards, easels, telephones, and A/V equipment. Typical uses include inventor organization meetings, business councils, and networking events. Please contact us for more information and to reserve a space.

As the Director of the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) since September 2018, Damian Porcari carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO while leading the Midwest regional office in Detroit. By focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Mr. Porcari ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders. More...

 Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Leadership

James O. Wilson Assistant Regional Director	Vanessa Ford Resource Supervisory Patent Examiner, Acting Lead Supervisory Patent Examiner
Renee Luebke Resource Supervisory Patent Examiner	Victoria Augustine Supervisory Patent Examiner

The office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays.

300 River Place Drive
Suite 2900
Detroit, MI 48207

313-446-4800
MidwestRegion@uspto.gov

Building access instructions

Upon entering the building, proceed to the security desk and present a valid federal or state photo ID. After screening, the building security guards will direct you to the appropriate elevators. Once you reach the 2nd floor, continue to the USPTO guard desk.

Parking

Free parking is available in the parking garage at 600 River Place Drive, adjacent to our building. Guests must state they are visiting the USPTO.

Paid parking is across the street, payment is required just after parking ($4). Validate self-parking in the lobby with security, the parking attendant will provide a refund upon exit.  Valet parking is not refundable. The parking fee refund is provided by building management. The USPTO is not responsible for parking fee refunds or any parking-related issues.