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.
The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) was an administrative law body of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which decided issues of patentability. Under the America Invents Act, the BPAI was replaced with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), effective September 16, 2012.
The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia, is a U.S., voluntary bar association constituted primarily of lawyers in private and corporate practice, in government service, and in the academic community. AIPLA represents individuals, companies and institutions involved in the practice of patent, trademark, copyright, and unfair competition law, as well as other fields of law affecting intellectual property. Members represent both owners and users of intellectual property.
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.
John J. Doll is the former Acting United States Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) due to the resignation of Jon W. Dudas on January 20, 2009. Before that, Doll was Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO. He joined the Patent and Trademark Office in 1974.
The copyright status of the content of patent applications and patents may vary from one legal system to another. Whether scientific literature can be freely copied for the purpose of patent prosecution is also a matter for discussion.
The history of United States patent law started even before the U.S. Constitution was adopted, with some state-specific patent laws. The history spans over more than three centuries.
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.
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.
The Cabinet Council on Commerce and Trade was one of multiple Cabinet Councils established in the United States on or about February 26, 1981 by the Reagan Administration.
Teresa Stanek Rea is the former Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and former Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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.
Arti K. Rai is an American legal intellectual and former public official. She is currently the Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law at Duke Law School. She was previously a member of the Presidential transition of Barack Obama and subsequently served in the Department of Commerce as a Patent Office advisor. During the early 2000s, Rai was one of the leading academic advocates of patent reform, particularly the creation of a robust post-grant opposition system for U.S. patents.
Andrei Iancu 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. He was nominated for both positions in 2017 by President Donald Trump. He left office January 20, 2021.
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).
