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• patent office
  patent office

  noun

  a governmental agency that administers and regulates patents and trademarks, in the U.S. forming a division of the Department of Commerce.
• Patent Office
  Patent Office

  noun

  a government department that issues patents

patent office

American  

noun

1. (often initial capital letters) a governmental agency that administers and regulates patents and trademarks, in the U.S. forming a division of the Department of Commerce.

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Patent Office British  

/ ˈpætənt /

noun

1.  Pat. Off.  a government department that issues patents

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Example Sentences

And later, in 1853, the U.S. patent office denied Hunt’s belated application for his 1830s sewing-machine invention.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

Attorney Kevin Yorn, who represents McConaughey, said the aim of filing with the patent office was "to make sure that our clients have the same kind of protections that their businesses have."

From Barron's • Jan. 15, 2026

After lower courts sided with the patent office, Thaler took his appeal to the Supreme Court, where a panel of judges unanimously dismissed the case.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 20, 2023

Who owns the phrase “Taco Tuesday”? According to the government’s patent office, the answer is Taco John’s in 49 states, a fast-food chain based in Wyoming.

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2023

But he found the process “distinctly unpleasant”— especially following a prolonged and ultimately fruitless wrangle with the patent office a few years later over his methods for producing radioactive isotopes.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik