Transition of Leadership at the USPTO

Written by Ben Esplin

For the past few days I, like many others, have kept a close eye on the transition of power in our country following the 2024 federal elections. The extreme differences between the ideologies prevalent in the outgoing and incoming administrations have led to an unprecedented cataclysm of change in the policies and procedures of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Thus far, the USPTO has largely been “business as usual” since the outgoing Director, Kathy Vidal, resigned in December.

Recently, Coke Stewart was appointed as Acting Director until an appointment to Secretary of Commerce is confirmed by the Senate. Once confirmed, the Secretary of Commerce will, in turn, appoint a new Director. It is my hope that the incoming Director will act with the rapidity we have seen in the incoming administration generally to enhance intellectual property protection in the U.S.

I appreciate such “enhancement” is subjective, and reasonable people may differ on the impact of various policies and procedures at the USPTO on intellectual property protection in the U.S., or even what it means to “enhance” such protection. However, I recently read this open letter to Howard Lutnick (the current nominee for Secretary of Commerce) and found myself nodding along to most of the sentiments. Here’s to new beginnings, and what hopefully becomes an era of U.S. prosperity lead by a return to fundamental property rights for owners of intellectual property.