Faraway Washington just got a lot closer to Silicon Valley in spirit and fact. After years of pleading from tech titans and Bay Area political leaders, the U.S. Patent Office will open a satellite operation to handle the region's river of innovation.

It's an overdue but welcome recognition of the obvious: this place cranks out products, pills and intellectual property that deserve patent and trademark protections. By the numbers, Silicon Valley provided 12 percent of all patents registered in 2010 while California was the top source among all states, accounting for a quarter of the awards.

Until now, patents were awarded by a single office in Alexandria, Va. This location meant long plane rides and inconvenience for Bay Area firms and much of the country. It also meant that federal employees were thousands of miles from the thinkers and doers at the heart of the innovation economy.

An update of national patent laws last year shook up the antiquated system and required that four regional offices be opened by 2014. The requirement touched off a stampede - what city wouldn't want the jobs and status that go with examining new ideas? - and totaled 600 entries. The list was narrowed to four winners expected to use their expertise in specialized areas.

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Detroit, due to open an office this month, will handle metal, paint and automotive products, the Dallas-Ft. Worth bureau will deal with energy, and Denver will focus on aerospace. Silicon Valley will be tabbed to examine electronics and biotech applications. The site of a local office has not been selected, but the pool of federal jobs is estimated at more than 100 positions, including engineers and scientists.

These regional locations and their specialities amount to a profile of American industry and its future. Nowhere is this more true than Silicon Valley.

Locating here will reduce delays for promising ideas. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a San Jose Democrat at the center of the lobbying effort for the patent office, estimated there's now a three-year wait, a holdup equivalent to the life span of many products.

Carl Guardino, head of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, added that the new location will bring patent examiners closer to the cycle of innovation and change as practiced here.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who helped pitch the Bay Area, noted other benefits such as the cluster of patent lawyers and consultants who will be located near the new office. He said the bid led both GOP and Democratic leaders to do something rare: join together to win the office.

Washington got the message. Silicon Valley, fertile ground for new ideas, is getting the recognition it deserves and needs.