Trump Issues Order: USPTO Staff Forbidden from Joining POPA, Telework Remains Unaltered
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been embroiled in a controversy following President Donald Trump's Executive Order, which excludes employees in the patents unit and Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) from joining certain unions.
The order, titled "Further Exclusions from the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program," aims to enhance national security. However, critics question the rationale behind the national security designation, with Jeannie Z. Taylor of Learning Design Alchemy and Paul Fehlner, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at Spyre, suggesting it may be a subterfuge to negate union representation.
The administration identified specific units within the USPTO as primarily responsible for national security work, leading to restrictions on employees in these units regarding participation in the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) and the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 243 (NTEU 243). The NTEU 243 represents federal workers across 38 departments and agencies, including patent examiners, IT specialists, and other support staff in the USPTO.
POPA has sued the administration, arguing that the USPTO does not assess whether the release of patent applications could harm national security, and that national security is an ancillary, rather than primary, function of the USPTO. A Fact Sheet published with the EO explains that the Office of the Commissioner of Patents, Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has the task of reviewing inventions made in the United States, assessing whether their release could harm national security, and if so, issuing secrecy orders that prevent public disclosure.
The new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for POPA, covering more than 9,600 of the agency's patent-side employees, was signed in December 2024. However, the order does not affect trademark examiners at this time. It refers specifically to the "Office of the Commissioner for Patents and subordinate units, Patent and Trademark Office."
Newly hired examiners are now required to work in-office for one year. Both POPA and the NTEU 243 allege that the Administration's actions are retaliatory due to their vocal opposition to its efforts to end telework and reduce staffing.
Comments on LinkedIn and Reddit have questioned the premise that all patents have national security implications. At best, national security is an ancillary function of "just 26 patent examiners of the nearly 9,000 examiners employed by the USPTO."
The administration has determined that the Patents business unit and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) business unit have a primary function of national security work. A memo circulated by USPTO Acting Director Coke Stewart indicates that neither the EO nor the EO issued March 27, 2025, titled "Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs" will affect any employee's duty station, salary, health and retirement benefits, work hours, award programs, or the like.
POPA seems to be continuing outside the umbrella of the USPTO as they set up a third party dues payment system. The press release from POPA states that only about 50 of the 600,000 patent applications received each year by the USPTO are ultimately subject to a secrecy order after being assessed by the defense agencies.
Former USPTO Commissioner for Patents Bob Stoll questioned the rationale for the Executive Order, stating it is just another attempt by the Administration to destroy collective bargaining. The controversy surrounding the Executive Order continues to unfold, with both sides presenting their arguments and awaiting resolution.
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