USPTO Monthly Review -- February 2019

AI, of course, has long been part of national, international, industry, academic, and even kitchen table discussions. And though some of the innovations that AI embodies—speech recognition, image recognition, search and optimization, and even early neural networks—were conceptualized as early as the 1950s, the significant breakthroughs are more contemporary.

Today, AI is becoming ubiquitous in our society. For example, faster, more-powerful processors and chips now provide sufficient computing power to perform trillions of calculations per second. Very quickly, AI technologies are evolving from far-off dreams of science fiction to mainstream, everyday uses that take computers to new levels at awe-inspiring speeds.

Read the full remarks from Director Andrei Iancu.

What an exciting year it has been at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office! Last February, Andrei Iancu was named the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. And, just a few short months ago, I was honored to be appointed Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO.

In June, we issued patent 10 million, signed by President Trump at the White House—of note, this was only the second signing of a patent by a president since John Quincy Adams in 1829. The last presidential patent signing was by Gerald Ford to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial in 1976. The issuance of patent 10 million represents a truly important milestone, not only in our nation’s history, but also in the context of human achievement.

Read the full remarks from Deputy Director Laura Peter.

I’m pleased to announce that the USPTO has published its Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for fiscal year (FY) 2018. The PAR serves as the USPTO’s annual report, similar to what private sector companies prepare for their shareholders. Each year the USPTO publishes this report to update the public on our performance and financial health.

Our FY 2018 PAR charts the agency’s progress toward meeting goals outlined in our 2014-2018 Strategic Plan: optimizing patent quality and timeliness; optimizing trademark quality and timeliness; and providing domestic and global leadership to improve intellectual property policy, protection, and enforcement worldwide. 

Read the blog by Chief Financial Officer Tony Scardino.

On January 31, the USPTO hosted the Artificial Intelligence: Intellectual Property Policy Considerations conference, which brought together leading thinkers, policy makers, academics, and practitioners from around the world to examine the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence, its potential economic impacts, and the technology’s implications for intellectual property policy and law.

Learn more about the event.

On January 25, the USPTO hosted the Trademark Public Advisory Committee Quarterly Meeting. The Trademark Public Advisory Committee reviews the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees of the USPTO with respect to trademarks and advises the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO on these matters.

Learn more about the event.

“January 2019 IP Update - PTO Director Iancu Launches Bold Initiative to Resolve Uncertainty in Patent Eligibility Determinations”
by JD Supra

“USPTO Director Iancu's First Year Marked by Big Changes at the PTAB”
by Eliot D. Williams, American Law Media

“USPTO appoints new deputy general counsel and solicitor”
by Ben Wodecki, IP Pro Magazine

“National Inventors Hall of Fame honors creators of Unix, power drills and more”
by Engadget

“Kodak gave first digital camera a pass”
by Connie Guglielmo, CNET