The White House says “If he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Kappos will take control of an office that provides incentives to encourage technological advancement and helps businesses protect their investments, promote their goods and safeguard against deception in the marketplace. The office continues to deal with a patent application backlog of more than 770,000, long waiting periods for patent review, information technology systems that are regarded as outdated and an application process in need of reform.”
The White House has announced its intent to nominate David J. Kappos as Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with the official title of Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property.
Introduction of Mr. Kappos
Mr. Kappos has spent his entire career with IBM – both as an electrical engineer and later as a patent attorney. Kappos will end his IBM career as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property Law. He is a board member of both AIPLA and IPO.
From the get-go, Mr. Kappos has been a rumored frontrunner to replace Director Jon Dudas and Interim Director John Doll.
A very necessary quality of being a patent office director who can understand patents and who has been fully involved with all aspects of the patent system for the past twenty years.
I believe that Kappos will be a careful shepherd of the system - leaving it better off in six years than it is today.”
As someone who writes daily about US Patent Law, I am excited about the Kappos nomination because he is likely to open access to previously hidden data and information. He will also work to create systems that work and measures that are meaningful.
I suspect that the biggest challenge for Mr. Kappos will be moving beyond the unique IBM perspective. Big Blue is an atypical patent owner in its internal systems, patenting volume, and licensing power. As I discussed earlier, it will be important for him to spend time understanding how the rest of the patent community operates.
