How Trump’s “Return to In-person work” order affects the USPTO

(The brief answer is, most employees of the USPTO who work from home will not need to do anything differently in the near term, and instead will have to await “separate guidance.”)

On his first day at work, one of the executive orders signed by Trump was an order (see it here) aiming to terminate “remote work arrangements”.  The order, dated January 20, 2025, says:

Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary. 

Two days later the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management issued this memorandum which says, among other things:

Federal office buildings sit mostly empty, particularly Washington, D.C.-area agency headquarters offices, devastating the local economy and serving as a national embarrassment.

This characterization does not accurately describe the situation at the USPTO.  In recent years, the USPTO has given up two of the five office buildings in its Alexandria campus in recognition of its remote work arrangements.  Put plainly, if somehow all USPTO employees were to descend upon the USPTO’s office buildings at once, there would not be places for most of them to sit.

Today, Commissioner for Patents Vaishali Udupa sent this USPTO Broadcast message:

From: USPTO Broadcast <USPTOBroadcast@subscriptions.uspto.gov>
Sent: Friday, January 24, 2025 5:40:02 PM
To: Udupa, Vaishali <Vaishali.Udupa@uspto.gov>
Subject: Return to Office

Agency Broadcast

Return to Office

Notice to Employees

The purpose of this email is to notify you of President Trump’s Presidential Memorandum, Return to In-Person Work. The USPTO will be fully complying with the President’s Memorandum and associated Guidance from the Office of Personnel Management.

In-Person Work 

In accordance with President Trump’s Presidential Memorandum, Return to In-Person Work, and corresponding Guidance from the Office of Personnel Management, the USPTO no longer permits regular and recurring telework. Employees should work full time at their respective worksites/duty stations.

Employee Exemptions

This memorandum does not apply to employees that have been excused from compliance due to reasonable accommodations consistent with the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or another compelling reason certified by the Acting Director or her designee and the employees’ supervisors. Senior leadership will receive separate instruction concerning the process by which potential exemption cases may be reviewed and certified by the Acting Director.

Bargaining Unit Exemptions

This memorandum does not supersede existing collective bargaining agreements. In collaboration with USPTO leadership, employees covered by collective bargaining agreements addressing telework and remote work should continue to explore methods for maximizing in-person work.

Existing Telework Agreements

All provisions of telework agreements must be canceled immediately, except for those provisions that support situational telework consistent with this email. Situational telework may be approved by supervisors on a case-by-case basis only when there is a written justification outlining the temporary challenge, such as a weather-related facility closure, being addressed and its expected duration.

Existing Remote Work Agreements 

Employees with existing remote work agreements will receive separate information about their work status.

Further information will be provided by your supervisor.

A few minutes later, Commissioner Udupa then sent out this email:

From: Vaishali Udupa, Commissioner for Patents <CommissionerforPatents@USPTO.GOV>
Sent: Friday, January 24, 2025 6:00 PM
Subject: Fw: Return to Office

Dear Colleagues,

Following up on the USPTO Broadcast Message, in view of the Executive Order and OPM guidance on telework, USPTO will be developing an implementation plan for return to office. There is no requirement for you to take any immediate action. Your supervisors will work directly with you as part of the implementation plan. That said, if you do have an assigned office or available space to work in person, we would like you to maximize your time in person during this transition period.

As the message states, non-bargaining, fully remote workers (i.e., those with a 50-mile program or TEAP agreement) will receive separate guidance.

Thank you,

Vaishali Udupa

Commissioner for Patents

Members of patent and trademark communities naturally wonder how this will affect the USPTO.   A first thing to know is that most of the USPTO employees who work from home do so pursuant to “remote work agreements” or are covered by “collective bargaining agreements” (union contracts) that provide for work from home.  This means that most recipients of the USPTO Agency Broadcast may ignore that broadcast.  This means that most recipients of the Commissioner’s followup email could likewise ignore that email.

Most employees of the USPTO who work from home will have to await “separate guidance.”