Andrei Iancu | |
---|---|
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property | |
In office February 8, 2018 –January 20, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Michelle K. Lee |
Succeeded by | Kathi Vidal |
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office | |
In office February 8,2018 –January 20,2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Michelle K. Lee |
Succeeded by | Kathi Vidal |
Personal details | |
Born | Bucharest,Romania [1] | April 2,1968
Education | University of California,Los Angeles (BS,MS,JD) |
Andrei Iancu (born April 2,1968) is an American-Romanian engineer and intellectual property attorney,who served as the under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 2017 to 2021. [2] He was nominated for both positions in 2017 by President Donald Trump. [3] [4] He left office January 20,2021. [5]
Iancu was born in Bucharest. [6] He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering,a Master of Science in mechanical engineering,and a Juris Doctor from the University of California,Los Angeles. At UCLA,he was initiated into Sigma Pi fraternity. [7]
Before entering law school,Iancu was an engineer at Hughes Aircraft, [8] from 1989 to 1993. [9]
Following law school,in 1999,Iancu joined Irell &Manella,of which he became the managing partner in 2012. [3] [10]
His legal practice focused on intellectual property litigation. As an attorney,Iancu appeared before the United States Patent and Trademark Office,the United States International Trade Commission,U.S. district courts,and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. [8] [11]
In 2006,while Iancu was a partner at Irell &Manella,the firm represented Donald Trump,NBC Universal and Mark Burnett in a copyright suit which alleged that Mark Bethea and Velocity Entertainment Group had originally pitched The Apprentice to the production team,under the title of CEO. [12] The case was "jointly settled out of court with an undisclosed settlement paid to Bethea" that year. [13]
Iancu is also a lecturer of patent law at his alma mater,the UCLA School of Law. [8] [14]
Iancu was nominated by President Trump on August 26,2017;approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 14,2017;confirmed by the Senate 94–0 on February 5,2018;and assumed the offices of Under Secretary and Director on February 8,2018,when he was sworn in. [15] [2]
In 2020,Iancu was in office during the sharpest declines and inclines of trademark applications in history. During Spring,COVID-19 lockdowns led to fewer filings,which then increased in July 2020,exceeding the previous July. September 2020 was subsequently the highest month of trademark filings in the history of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. [16]
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexandria,Virginia,after a 2005 move from the Crystal City area of neighboring Arlington,Virginia.
Bruce A. Lehman served from 1993 to 1998 as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Lehman is noted for being the first openly gay man to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Irell &Manella LLP is an American law firm founded in 1941 by lawyers Lawrence E. Irell (1912–2000) and Arthur Manella (1917–1997). It has approximately 70 lawyers,and placed 183rd on The American Lawyer's 2021 Am Law 200 ranking. It has two locations in Southern California:Century City and Newport Beach,as well as one in Washington,D.C. Irell specializes in intellectual property litigation and general business litigation.
The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property,or USC(IP),is a senior official in the United States Department of Commerce and the principal advisor to the United States Secretary of Commerce on the intellectual property matters. In tandem,the Under Secretary is also the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office within the Commerce Department,filling dual roles.
Carlos Roberto Moreno is an American jurist who is the former United States Ambassador to Belize,serving from June 24,2014 to January 20,2017. Previously,he served as a judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from February 4,1998,to October 18,2001,and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from October 18,2001,to February 28,2011. Following his retirement from the bench,Moreno was counsel with Irell &Manella from 2011 to 2013. He has been a self-employed JAMS arbitrator since returning from Belize in 2017.
Jonathan Ward "Jon" Dudas,born July 5,1968,is the senior vice president,senior associate to the president and secretary of the University of Arizona. He previously served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) until January 18,2009. He was nominated to the position by former President George W. Bush in March 2004 and appointed in July 2004. Dudas previously served as acting Under Secretary and Director,and Deputy Under Secretary and Deputy Director from 2002 to 2004. He is also a member of the board of directors of Conversant Intellectual Property Management.
James Edward Rogan is an American judge of the Superior Court of California,adjunct law professor,author and former Member of the United States House of Representatives from California. He also formerly served as United States Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property,Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office,California State Assembly Majority Leader,a judge of the California Municipal Court,a gang murder prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office and a civil litigator in private law practice. In January 2007,President George W. Bush nominated Rogan to be a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California,but the Senate failed to act on the nomination before the expiration of Bush's term in office.
Q. Todd Dickinson was an Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He was an executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA),and had been mentioned by some sources for possible reappointment to his former post as director of the USPTO by the Barack Obama administration prior to the appointment of David Kappos to that post.
Morgan Chu,is an American intellectual property attorney.
David "Dave" J. Kappos is an attorney and former government official who served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 2009 to 2013. Kappos is currently a partner at New York law firm Cravath,Swaine &Moore.
David Nimmer is an American lawyer,law professor,renowned as an expert in United States copyright law. He received an A.B. with distinction and honors in 1977 from Stanford University and his J.D. in 1980 from Yale Law School,where he served as editor of the Yale Law Journal. David Nimmer is of counsel to Irell &Manella LLP in Los Angeles,California. He also serves as a Professor from Practice at University of California,Los Angeles Law School and Distinguished Scholar at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. In 2000,he was elected to the American Law Institute. He has served as a guest professor at the University of Haifa,Yeshiva University,the University of Miami,and Syracuse University.
Raymond T. Chen is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is an administrative law body of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which decides issues of patentability. It was formed on September 16,2012,as one part of the America Invents Act. Prior to its formation,the main judicial body in the USPTO was the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI).
Michelle Kwok Lee,born 1965 in Santa Clara,California,was vice president of Amazon Web Services and a former Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The bill H.R. 5108 would establish the Law School Clinic Certification Program of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to be available to accredited law schools for the 10-year period after enactment of this Act.
Iancu v. Brunetti,No. 18–302,588 U.S. ___ (2019),is a Supreme Court of the United States case related to the registration of trademarks under the Lanham Act. It decided 6–3 that the provisions of the Lanham Act prohibiting registration of trademarks of "immoral" or "scandalous" matter is unconstitutional by permitting the United States Patent &Trademark Office to engage in viewpoint discrimination,which violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
John William Holcomb is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Kathi Vidal is an American intellectual property lawyer and former engineer who serves as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).