CONTACT: (Media Only)
Paul Fucito or Mandy Kraft
(571) 272-8400 or paul.fucito@uspto.gov or mandy.kraft@uspto.gov
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced new membership to its Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees, composed of private-sector individuals who advise the agency on its patent and trademark operations.
New members of the USPTO’s Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) include Lateef Mtima, Earl “Eb” Bright, and Marvin Slepian, while the new members of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) are Valerie Calloway, Nehal Madhani, and Douglas Masters (all bios for the new Public Advisory Committee (PAC) members below).
Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, in consultation with Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and USPTO Director Kathi Vidal, appoints committee members to serve three-year rotating terms. The committees were created through the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act statute in the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999.
Secretary Raimondo and Director Vidal have designated Loletta Darden as the PPAC Chair and Charles Duan as the PPAC Vice Chair, and Adraea Brown as the TPAC Chair and Amy Hsiao as the TPAC Vice Chair. Outgoing PAC members include Susan G. Braden, Dan Brown, Steve Caltrider, David Cho, Jomarie Fredericks, and Tracy Deutmeyer.
“The Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees are vital in helping our agency advance innovation, with PAC members serving as fierce advocates for the immense value of intellectual property protection in our society and strengthening our service to all stakeholders,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Kathi Vidal. “We are grateful for the passionate service of our outgoing PAC members—Steve, Dan, Judge Braden, David, Jomarie, and Tracy—who have all elevated the work of our PACs to new heights. I am also thrilled to welcome our new members and chairs to their esteemed positions and greatly look forward to all that we will accomplish together. I am excited to work with Loletta and Adraea in their leadership roles to further expand our innovation ecosystem.”
“I am honored to lead the PPAC, and I look forward to working to serve the interests of the country’s IP community in ways that enhance national and global competitiveness and accelerates growth in GDP. I invite USPTO stakeholders, entrepreneurs, and innovators to engage with us as we advise the USPTO in the important work of driving innovation and entrepreneurship for the benefit of all,” said newly-appointed PPAC Chair Loletta Darden.
“I am honored and excited to serve as this year's TPAC chair and look forward to advising the USPTO during such an important time on matters that impact entrepreneurship, drive innovation, and encourage brand creation and growth,” said newly-appointed TPAC Chair Adraea Brown.
For additional information on the USPTO’s PACs, including how to participate in the upcoming PAC public meetings, please visit the PPAC information page and the TPAC information page.
NEW PAC MEMBER BIOS:
PPAC
Lateef Mtima is a professor of law at the Howard University School of Law, and the founder and director of the Institute for IP and Social Justice, an accredited NGO member of WIPO, that advocates for core principles of socially equitable access, inclusion, and empowerment in the development and implementation of the IP ecosystem. Professor Mtima has testified before Congress in support of IP social justice legislation, including the Unleashing American Innovators Act, which President Biden signed into law on December 29, 2022. He has served as a member of the Advisory Council for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims; President of the Giles S. Rich Inn of Court for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; a member of the BNA Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal Advisory Board, the founding editorial board for the ABA IP periodical, Landslide; a Thomas Edison Innovation Law and Policy Fellow, Center for IP x Innovation Policy, Antonin Scalia School of Law, and a Distinguished Libra Visiting Scholar in Residence at the University of Maine School of Law.
Earl “Eb” Bright currently serves as the President and General Counsel at ExploraMed Development, LLC, as well as the Founder and CAO at Revelle Aesthetics. He also serves as the Director of IP Policy at Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. Mr. Bright is a patent attorney and has served on the executive management teams of many start-up companies in multiple capacities. He is a co-founder and serves on the Alliance for U.S. Startups and Inventors for Jobs advisory committee (a group of inventors, startup companies, venture capitalists, incubators, and research institutions). Mr. Bright has studied and published many articles on patent policy, collaborated with the USPTO to teach entrepreneurship to patent examiners, testified to the U.S. Senate, and assisted many judiciary committee attorneys with legislative language. He is an inventor on sixteen U.S. patents.
Marvin J. Slepian, M.D., J.D. is Regents’ Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering (Associate Department Head), at The University of Arizona. He is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Accelerated Biomedical Innovation (ACABI), a university-wide “creativity engine” driving innovation and novel solution development for unmet medical needs. Dr. Slepian has had an extensive research career leading to the development of innovative diagnostics and therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases including drug-eluting stent technologies and the only FDA approved total artificial heart. He is an elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES); a member of BEMA – the Biomaterials Engineering Materials and Applications (BEMA) Roundtable, of the National Research Council of the National Academies; and recently completed his J.D. at University of Arizona Law. He is a named inventor on more than 60 patents covering a broad range of technologies.
TPAC
Valerie L. Calloway serves as Associate General Counsel, managing IP attorney, and Chief Trademark Counsel of IBM, specializing in trademark filing, clearance, and prosecution. She is responsible for protecting IBM’s tens of thousands of brands and domain names, and serves as managing attorney for 200 IP professionals located worldwide. As Chief Trademark Counsel, Ms. Calloway’s practice specializes in company acquisitions and divestitures, and in developing and executing global trademark and domain name protection strategies.
Nehal Madhani is an attorney and the Founder and CEO of Alt Legal, a trademark docketing software company serving over 1,200 organizations globally to manage their IP filings and deadlines. He is also the Founder and Managing Director of the International IP Standards Group, a non-profit organization, that defines and advocates for the standardization, accessibility, and availability of IP laws and data across IP offices. As a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), and a committee chair, Mr. Madhani has focused on bringing together the INTA community to share knowledge and resources. His focus is on trademark practice, technology, and the potential of streamlining the trademark prosecution process.
Douglas N. Masters is Managing Partner at the law firm of Loeb & Loeb, LLC’s Chicago office, where he litigates and counsels clients primarily in the areas of IP, advertising and unfair competition. He helps brand owners, sports leagues, athletes, and advertisers protect and leverage their branding, marketing, and other IP assets. Notably, Mr. Masters has worked with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for nearly 20 years on brand protection strategy, helping to strengthen the organization's ability to support college athletics. He has notable experience advising companies in domain name protection and enforcement proceedings, and matters of litigation relating to the unique issues of online marketing and advertising. Mr. Masters represents clients in court, and he practices regularly before the USPTO’s TTAB.
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