Issa notes Trump USPTO achievements, urges utilization of PTAB to achieve Administration’s vision and policy goals

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48), Senior Member of the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, presided today over that subcommittee’s hearing entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office” featuring Commerce Under Secretary and Director of the USPTO John Squires.

Issa noted the significant reforms and improvements of this Administration’s USPTO, specifically efforts to “advance President Trump’s Artificial Intelligence agenda through clear guidelines that support the use of AI as a tool for innovation and accelerate the agency’s use of AI to improve patent examination.” Issa further stated that Director Squires had “effectively implemented the President’s Executive Orders on federal personnel policies while admirably finding, hiring and maintaining the USPTO’s vital workforce.”

Issa also presented in detail his strong endorsement of the office’s Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB), which he described as “an important check that enables the targets of abusive patent litigation to get faster, cheaper adjudication of patent validity utilizing judges with a track record of doing their jobs accurately and efficiently.” Issa urged Director Squires to “fully consider the clear and undeniably positive difference that PTABhas made, and as a signature element of the America Invents Act, it should not be ignored or cast aside.”

The full hearing can be seen here.

The testimony of Director Squires can be found here.

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