• Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
    • Advertise On IP Watch
    • Editorial Calendar
  • Videos
  • Links
  • Help

Intellectual Property Watch

Original news and analysis on international IP policy

  • Copyright
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Opinions
  • People News
  • Venues
    • Bilateral/Regional Negotiations
    • ITU/ICANN
    • United Nations – other
    • WHO
    • WIPO
    • WTO/TRIPS
    • Africa
    • Asia/Pacific
    • Europe
    • Latin America/Caribbean
    • North America
  • Themes
    • Access to Knowledge/ Open Innovation & Science
    • Food Security/ Agriculture/ Genetic Resources
    • Finance
    • Health & IP
    • Human Rights
    • Internet Governance/ Digital Economy/ Cyberspace
    • Lobbying
    • Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer
  • Health Policy Watch

USPTO Director Kappos To Depart In January

26/11/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

David Kappos, the director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), will leave at the end of January, a USPTO spokesperson confirmed today.

“I am honored to have served this administration by leading the USPTO,” Kappos said in an emailed statement. “I believe we have made great progress in reducing the patent backlog, increasing operational efficiency, and exerting leadership in IP policy domestically and internationally. Thanks to the entire USPTO staff for their dedication and hard work. I wish them the very best as they continue their efforts to support the U.S. economy by promoting and protecting innovation.”

The USPTO director position is also an undersecretary of the Commerce Department. A statement from Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank was circulated: “Dave Kappos has done a terrific job of helping to shape and implement the administration’s innovation agenda. His three-and-a-half year tenure is marked by many notable accomplishments which have helped improve the IP system both here and abroad.”

“We are fortunate to have had Dave on our leadership team,” Blank said. “We all benefited from his deep knowledge, strong management skills, and passion for the issues before the USPTO. I thank him for his distinguished service.”

USPTO has not said who might follow Kappos, but some observers are giving early predictions of Teresa Stanek Rea, a pharmaceutical industry lawyer who joined USPTO early last year as deputy director (IPW, US Policy, 17 February 2011).

In his approval process in second half of 2009, Kappos declared that he would stay clear of conflicts with his previous employer, IBM, traditionally one of the biggest patent filers (IPW, US Policy, 29 July 2009).

Kappos took office in the second half of 2009 with an ambitious agenda but little funding (IPW, US Policy, 23 October 2009). It remains to be seen how history judges his tenure, but he was very active in the role. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment was the passage of the America Invents Act, the US patent reform bill (IPW, US Policy, 9 September 2011).

Reactions

Attorney Dennis Crouch, who publishes the blog Patently-O, offered praise for Kappos. He said Kappos’ style of working with patent applicants to improve patent quality gained him respect.

Patent attorney and regular commentator Harold Wegner of Foley Lardner said: “The under secretary has performed brilliantly under difficult circumstances and will be remembered as the premiere leader of the Office in the past sixty or more years. Congratulations, Under Secretary Kappos! ”

Greg Aharonian, a patent attorney who publishes the Internet Patent News Service and is frequently critical of the US patent office, said:

“- under Kappos, there have been no improvements in patent quality
– under Kappos, there have been no improvements in patent pendency
– under Kappos, worse, no improvements in measuring these two
– under Kappos, PTO examiner productivity has not changed one iota
– under Kappos, PTO resources diverted to “gimmick” improvements”

Aharonian sounded a cautionary note for the next director:

“Will the next PTO Director order the PTO to honestly measure quality and performance? Will the next PTO Director sweep out two decades of dead wood and incompetence in the PTO policy, IT and search resources offices? Will the next PTO Director shut down the useless Patent Public Advisory Comittee? Will the next PTO Director stop wasting PTO time and resources seeking outside help (the public, other patent offices), when there are so many grossly underutilized resources within the PTO?”

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.

Creative Commons License"USPTO Director Kappos To Depart In January" by Intellectual Property Watch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Filed Under: IP Policies, Language, Themes, Venues, English, Innovation/ R&D, North America, Patents/Designs/Trade Secrets, Trademarks/Geographical Indications/Domains

Trackbacks

  1. U.S. patent office director to step down – UPI.com | Law Attorney Magazine | Law Attorney News says:
    01/12/2012 at 1:07 pm

    […] (blog)USPTO Director Kappos will Leave in January 2013Patently-OThe Verge -ABA Journal -Intellectual Property Watchall 49 news […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
My Tweets

IPW News Briefs

Saudis Seek Alternative Energy Partners Through WIPO Green Program

Chinese IP Officials Complete Study Of UK, European IP Law

Perspectives on the US

In US, No Remedies For Growing IP Infringements

US IP Law – Big Developments On The Horizon In 2019

More perspectives on the US...

Supported Series: Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities

Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities Series – Translations Now Available

The Myth Of IP Incentives For All Nations – Q&A With Carlos Correa

Read the TRIPS flexibilities series...

Paid Content

Interview With Peter Vanderheyden, CEO Of Article One Partners

More paid content...

IP Delegates in Geneva

  • IP Delegates in Geneva
  • Guide to Geneva-based Public Health and IP Organisations

All Story Categories

Other Languages

  • Français
  • Español
  • 中文
  • اللغة العربية

Archives

  • Archives
  • Monthly Reporter

Staff Access

  • Writers

Sign up for free news alerts

This site uses cookies to help give you the best experience on our website. Cookies enable us to collect information that helps us personalise your experience and improve the functionality and performance of our site. By continuing to read our website, we assume you agree to this, otherwise you can adjust your browser settings. Please read our cookie and Privacy Policy. Our Cookies and Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Global Policy Reporting

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.