However, the USPTO does offer an avenue to advertise the potential licensing availability of an invention by publishing a notice in the Official Gazette, at the request of the inventor and for a certain fee. Furthermore, in order to make the patent and trademark application processes more streamlined for independent inventors, a separate Office of Independent Inventor Programs was established in 1999. The aim of these programs was to provide guidance to independent inventors by establishing more helpful links between the inventor and the USPTO itself.
