Trump's nominee, Squires, anticipated to secure the position of USPTO Director on Thursday, within the framework of the Nuclear Option for presidential appointments.
The United States Senate has confirmed John Squires as the new Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), following a series of votes on Wednesday morning. Squires' nomination, which was approved by the Judiciary Committee via a 20-2 voice vote, comes after months of largely patent-friendly reforms established by Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart.
Squires, who becomes the USPTO Director officially in March, is generally viewed as pro-patent and pro-innovation. However, his focus on the high error rate of patent issuance has caused some concerns among the inventor community. At his confirmation hearing in May, Squires acknowledged that a 68% rate of patents found defective in Inter Partes Review (IPR) reflects efforts that the agency must undertake to improve patent quality.
Meanwhile, Acting Director Stewart has been encouraging to many in the patent community, especially patent owners. She decided to consider requests for discretionary denials of IPRs filed by patent owners under her Director's authority to decide IPR institution, as codified at 35 U.S.C. § 314(a). Notable discretionary denials granted by Stewart have been those that consider the settled expectations of patent owners.
In a recent memorandum, Stewart stated that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will explain its reasoning when making findings that differ from prior adjudications of validity for those patent claims from the USPTO, the U.S. International Trade Commission, or U.S. district court. This move aims to increase transparency and accountability in the PTAB's decision-making process.
The PTAB, responsible for conducting IPR of patents, has been under scrutiny for its role in patent disputes. Concerns over the innovation-chilling implications of a valuation-based framework for assessing patent fees have been raised, as that framework has reportedly been debated within the Commerce Department. The reported efforts to create fee frameworks based on patent valuation have recently undercut optimism about Squires' tenure at the USPTO.
Squires is set to take over the USPTO following these reforms. Gene Quinn, Founder and CEO of our publication, noted that Squires' nomination came earlier in the political cycle than is typical for incoming USPTO Directors. This early nomination suggests a commitment to addressing patent issues promptly and effectively.
The confirmation of Squires and 47 other Trump Administration nominees was part of Senate Republicans' exercise of the "nuclear option" for confirmations recently approved by Senate rulemaking. The US Secretary of Commerce, known to John Squires and Coke Morgan Stewart regarding patent issues, is Howard Lutnick.
However, not all reactions to Stewart's tenure as Acting Director have been positive. A former deputy counsel for the USPTO recently called out Stewart's 'unaccountable governance,' accusing her of 'pursuing an aggressive and probably unlawful patent-maximalist agenda.' This criticism highlights the challenges and controversies that come with reforming the patent system.
Despite these controversies, Stewart's handling of discretionary denial requests and her push for earlier validity challenges have been encouraging to many in the patent community. As Squires takes over, it remains to be seen how he will continue to shape the USPTO and the patent system in the United States.
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