On March 10th, President Trump officially nominated John Squires as his next USPTOUnited States Patent and Trademark Office. See also PTO. Director, according to a notice on Congress.gov and as widely reported today. Squires, whose nomination is now referred for consideration to the Senate Judiciary Committee, is poised to oversee the USPTOUnited States Patent and Trademark Office. See also PTO. during a time when the future of post-grant reviewA procedure by which a third-party may contest issuance of a patent at the USPTO within a short period (9 months) after issuance. Introduced to the U.S. by the AIA. The EPO has a similar procedure. proceedings is threatened and innovators are facing consistent low-quality patent assertions. While his professional connections to the litigation investment industry are concerning, I hope his tenure will bring a fairer, more balanced patent system that protects American inventors and innovators of all sizes.
Squires, who had been rumored for the position for several weeks, currently serves as Chair of the Emerging Companies and IP practice at Dilworth Paxson and previously held the role of Chief IP Counsel at Goldman Sachs. Squires’ resume, particularly his involvement in the formation of Fortress’ IP investment fund, shows that he has extensive experience on the investor side of litigation investment entities, an industry we’ve discussed extensively in Patent Progress.
Despite connections to the industry, Squires did once recognize the trend of patent monetization being “dominated by the much-maligned patent trolls” and the need for inter partes review, stating that “as a practical matter, [IPR] is the first and only opportunity for financial services firms to ferret out invalid patents before being forced into expensive and prolonged litigation.”
If confirmed as USPTOUnited States Patent and Trademark Office. See also PTO. Director, it will be up to him to protect the review mechanisms which deter abuse by non-practicing entities (NPEsNon-Practicing Entity. A broad term associated with trolls but now disfavored because it includes universities and legitimate technology developers that seek to license technology in advance rather than after a producing company has independently developed it.). Although many NPEsNon-Practicing Entity. A broad term associated with trolls but now disfavored because it includes universities and legitimate technology developers that seek to license technology in advance rather than after a producing company has independently developed it. are now backed by litigation investment entities, there is possibly a reason to be cautiously optimistic on this front. In 2007, Squires testified in favor of the Patent Reform Act of 2007, a precursor to the groundbreaking America Invents Act (AIAAmerica Invents Act of 2011. AIA made modest reforms, most notably moving the U.S. to a first-inventor-to-file system more aligned with foreign practice, but also including expanding prior user rights to all patent-eligible subject matter, and instituting a post-grant review proceeding.), noting that “patent examination quality issues, predatory patent assertions, and litigation abuse have precluded continued progress and efficiencies in bettering the U.S. financial system.”
If Squires is still committed to correcting these quality issues and reining in predatory patent assertions, his first order of business as Director should be to reverse the recent decision made by Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart to fully reinstate the NHK-Fintiv rule. The rule, which had been scaled back under former Director Kathi Vidal and faced overwhelming opposition from the public when it was included in an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, would significantly undermine the role of the PTABPatent Trial and Appeal Board. Reviews adverse decisions of examiners on written appeals of applicants and appeals of reexaminations, and conducts inter partes reviews and post-grant reviews. The Board also continues to decide patent interferences, as it was known as the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) before the AIA. in reviewing patent validity determinations to ensure low-quality patents cannot be wrongfully asserted by NPEsNon-Practicing Entity. A broad term associated with trolls but now disfavored because it includes universities and legitimate technology developers that seek to license technology in advance rather than after a producing company has independently developed it.. Fintiv not only undermines these efficiencies but runs counter to the explicit intent of the AIA—overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation whose intent Squires seemingly supported in his Senate testimony.
David Crane, Executive Director of the U.S. Manufacturers Association for Development and Enterprise (US-MADE), emphasized this point in a March 11th statement, saying, “Director-nominee Squires must make clear to the U.S. Senate that he will reject calls to weaken patent validity review provided by the administrative patent judges (APJs) who serve on the [PTAB]. Their work, and access to the PTABPatent Trial and Appeal Board. Reviews adverse decisions of examiners on written appeals of applicants and appeals of reexaminations, and conducts inter partes reviews and post-grant reviews. The Board also continues to decide patent interferences, as it was known as the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) before the AIA., is essential for stopping bad-faith actors from weaponizing low-quality patents in our courts.”
Given the current threats to the PTABPatent Trial and Appeal Board. Reviews adverse decisions of examiners on written appeals of applicants and appeals of reexaminations, and conducts inter partes reviews and post-grant reviews. The Board also continues to decide patent interferences, as it was known as the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) before the AIA., including harmful legislative efforts such as the PREVAIL Act, the next USPTOUnited States Patent and Trademark Office. See also PTO. Director must stand firm against IP aggression from profit-driven NPEsNon-Practicing Entity. A broad term associated with trolls but now disfavored because it includes universities and legitimate technology developers that seek to license technology in advance rather than after a producing company has independently developed it.. Mr. Squires, if confirmed, must rise to this challenge and work to establish a balanced patent system that safeguards American innovators of all sizes from these abuses.
