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WASHINGTON—The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is pleased to welcome John A. Squires to the agency, where he will serve as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. In this role, Director Squires is the nation’s chief intellectual property (IP) executive. He is responsible for advising Secretary of Commerce Howard W. Lutnick, President Donald J. Trump and his Administration, as well as other government agencies, on matters pertaining to IP policy, advancing U.S. innovation, and U.S. global competitiveness.
“Leading America’s Innovation Agency—one of the largest IP offices in the world—a nearly $5 billion operation with over 13,500 employees located throughout the 50 states and Puerto Rico—is both humbling and the honor of a lifetime,” said Director Squires. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to deliver on the promise of American ingenuity and entrepreneurship—the very essence of our American spirit—and to equip, modernize, and align our agency to be the vanguard of our creative triumphs and fuel economic growth, technological progress, and global competitiveness.
Coke Morgan Stewart, who was appointed in January 2025 to serve as the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO, has been the USPTO’s Acting Under Secretary and Acting Director. She will continue working at the agency, alongside Director Squires, in her appointed role.
Prior to joining the USPTO, Director Squires served as Partner and Chair of the IP and Emerging Companies Practice at Dilworth Paxson LLP and as an adjunct law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. He has extensive experience in all aspects of IP and emerging companies, across a vast array of scientific and technology disciplines, including patent and trademark asset creation, procurement and acquisition, transactions, licensing, corporate formation, governance, and structuring high-stakes litigation, regulatory, and risk management matters. Director Squires received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, with a concentration in organic chemistry, from Bucknell University and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, magna cum laude, where he was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif.
Read Director Squires’ full bio on the USPTO website.
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