"This is a prestigious honor given the Patent Public Advisory Counsel consists of only nine members who advise the Director and the agency," said John M. Whealan, Associate Dean for Intellectual Property Law.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced new members to its Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees, composed of intellectual property (IP) experts who participate in meetings to discuss the USPTO’s patent and trademark operations. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, in consultation with USPTO Director Kathi Vidal, appoints the nine members of each committee 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.
“I am excited to join the Patent Public Advisory Council (PPAC), as I believe innovation to be a critical component of economic growth and job creation. A 2018 study by MIT’s Sloan School of Management reports that ‘[i]nnovation fueled economic growth in America for the past century, but since the 1970s, innovation (as measured by fundamental productivity growth) appears to have slowed from an annual increase of 1.9 percent to 0.7 percent — and so has economic growth.’ I look forward to working with other members of the Council to do great things to incentivize innovation and to continue to improve our patent system for all," said Professor Lolita Darden.