Quarterly, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC), meets at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. You can attend the public session of the meeting at the Alexandria campus, or watch on-line.
The PPAC reviews the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees of patent operations and advises the director on these matters.
Please submit questions to ppac@uspto.gov.
Agenda:
Time | Topic | Principal(s) |
---|---|---|
9:00-9:05 | Call To Order Session Opening • Introductions, PPAC Remarks | Marylee Jenkins, PPAC Chair |
9:05-9:10 | Opening Remarks | Drew Hirshfeld, Commissioner for Patents |
9:10-9:25 | PPAC Annual Report Recommendations | Rick Seidel, Deputy Commissioner or Patent Administration |
9:25-10:30 | Quality Update | Valencia Martin Wallace, Deputy Commissioner for Patent Quality Marty Rater, Acting Director, Office of Patent Quality Assurance Brian Hanlon, Director, Office of Patent Legal Administration Sandie Spyrou, Quality Lead, Office of Patent Quality Assurance Greg Vidovich, Associate Commissioner for Patent Quality |
>>> Break <<< | ||
10:45-11:30 | Operations Update • Examination Time Analysis • Pro Se Art Unit | Andrew Faile, Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations |
11:30-11:50 | Patent Eligibility Update | Robert Bahr, Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy Mary Critharis, Senior Patent Counsel, Office of Policy and International Affairs |
>>> Working Lunch <<< | ||
12:05-1:05 | Executive Session: Ethics Briefing | Arthur Warren, Senior Counsel for Ethics, Department of Commerce |
1:05-1:25 | International Update • OPIA Updates • OIPC Updates - Access to Relevant Prior Art | Shira Perlmutter, Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs Mark Powell, Deputy Commissioner for International Patent Cooperation |
1:25-1:45 | IT Update | John Owens, Chief Information Officer David Landrith, PE2E Portfolio Manager Debbie Stephens, Associate Commissioner for Patent Information Management |
1:45-2:05 | Finance/Budget Update | Frank Murphy, Acting Chief Financial Officer |
2:05 - 2:25 | Legislative Update | Dana Colarulli, Director, Office of Governmental Affairs |
2:25-2:45 | PTAB Update • PTAB Management • PTAB Statistics | David Ruschke, Chief Judge, Patent Trial and Appeal Board Scott Boalick, Deputy Chief Judge, Patent Trial and Appeal Board |
2:45 | Meeting Adjourn | Marylee Jenkins, PPAC Chair |