Silicon Valley patent office to open in San Jose

The U.S. Commerce Department has announced plans to open a long-awaited patent office in California's Silicon Valley.

Commerce officials said on Tuesday the office will be located in San Jose City Hall and bring more than 80 jobs to Silicon Valley within its first year of operations.

Silicon Valley firms seek more U.S. patents than any other region in the world, and San Jose is the nation's top patent-producing city, with more than 7,000 patents last year. But until now, patent seekers needed to visit offices in Alexandria, Va.

The Silicon Valley office was postponed by federal budget cuts known as sequestration, a move technology leaders in the region objected to on the grounds that patent offices are supported by the $2.8 billion in annual patent fees collected from inventors, entrepreneurs and companies.