The Cabinet of the United States is the principal official advisory body to the president of the United States. The Cabinet generally meets with the president in a room adjacent to the Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House. The president chairs the meetings but is not formally a member of the Cabinet. The vice president of the United States serves in the Cabinet by statute. The heads of departments, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, are members of the Cabinet, and acting department heads also participate in Cabinet meetings whether or not they have been officially nominated for Senate confirmation. Members of the Cabinet are political appointees and administratively function their departments. As appointed officers heading federal agencies, these Cabinet Secretaries are bureaucrats with full administrative control over their respective departments. The president may designate heads of other agencies and non-Senate-confirmed members of the Executive Office of the President as members of the Cabinet.
The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary reports directly to the president and is a statutory member of Cabinet of the United States. The secretary is appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The secretary of commerce is concerned with promoting American businesses and industries; the department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce".
The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of nonagricultural U.S. goods and services.
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 American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington County, 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.
Jonathan Ward "Jon" Dudas 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.
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.
Executive Schedule is the system of salaries given to the highest-ranked appointed officials in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The president of the United States appoints individuals to these positions, most with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. They include members of the president's Cabinet, several top-ranking officials of each executive department, the directors of some of the more prominent departmental and independent agencies, and several members of the Executive Office of the President.
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" James 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.
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 a former Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Margaret Judith Ann Peterlin is an American lawyer. She served as the Chief of Staff to the United States Secretary of State from February 2017 until the end of March 2018. She was appointed to the position by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Since July 6, 2018, she has served as the senior vice president of global external and public affairs for AT&T.
Andrei Iancu is a Romanian-American 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 on January 20, 2021. He is currently a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell's intellectual property & technology practice.
Walter Copan is an American chemist and government official who served as the under secretary of commerce for standards and technology and the 16th Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology from 2017 to 2021. Prior to assuming that role, he worked as president and CEO of IP Engineering Group Corporation and as a board member of Rocky Mountain Innovation Partners.
Katherine "Kathi" Kelly Vidal is an American intellectual property lawyer and former engineer who served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 2022 to 2024.
