PTO Acting Director to Plans Step Down; No Replacement Yet Confirmed
Patent and Trademark Office acting Director Teresa Stanek Rea will soon step down to return to the private sector, she told colleagues in a Wednesday letter, several intellectual property lawyers and advocates outside the office told us. None of those we interviewed said they know where Rea will go next or whether the administration will soon name a permanent director to the post. Neither the White House nor the agency had comment.
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Rea took over as acting director in January, when David Kappos stepped down. The Obama administration hasn’t named a replacement for Kappos, citing until recently the now-filled opening for the Commerce secretary, who oversees the PTO. Penny Pritzker was confirmed to that role last month. Should Rea step down before a permanent replacement is confirmed, the next highest official at the agency is Peggy Focarino, currently the commissioner for patents (http://1.usa.gov/1auo0zV).
Rea was deputy director at the PTO before becoming acting director. Before joining the agency, Rea was president of the American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (AIPLA) (CD Feb 18/11 p13). She also was an attorney at Crowell and Moring in Washington, where she focused on pharmaceutical and biotechnology intellectual property issues, according to the agency (http://1.usa.gov/1auoiH5).
The timing of Rea’s announcement was “a surprise to me, but she was meant to be an acting director so it’s not entirely a shock,” Computer and Communications Industry Association Patent Counsel Matt Levy told us. “Rea was clearly working to improve patent quality and make things better at the office in her limited time.” He pointed to her recent work on limiting functional claims and said he hopes her successor will continue to train examiners in that initiative. “I hope the Obama administration will choose a permanent successor carefully -- I'm sure that they will. The administration has made clear that they are very interested in improving the quality of patents, and particularly in putting more effort into limiting software patents.”
Rea “served almost two years very honorably,” said Todd Dickinson, AIPLA president and a former PTO director. “Having served as a director and acting director, [I know] acting director is a tricky spot” because a person’s ability to take action is limited, he said. Rea did an excellent job managing the office and furthering the implementation of the America Invents Act, he said. “The best thing about her was her great knowledge of both the substantive area and industry, and also she’s a great person to work with.” Dickinson said he believes the search for a permanent PTO director is ongoing.
Rea “did a lot of outreach to communities to improve the patent system to stimulate innovation,” said Charles Duan, director of Public Knowledge’s Patent Reform Project. “We would like the next person who takes her position to do the same. Additionally, we hope that her successor will take substantial steps toward addressing issues of patent quality, both through this outreach and through improved procedures for examination.” -- Erin Mershon (emershon@warren-news.com)