Patent Law

Vacuum Suction

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

Hal Wegner cited "an informed source" that John Doll is likely to be the Acting Director of the USPTO in 2009, upon the expected departure of political hack and pathetic sack Jon Dudas. "A nonstatutory arrangement between Commerce and the PTO makes the Commissioner for Patents the Acting Director in the absence of a superior political appointee."

In the event of an Obamarama, repugnant Republicans would certainly be tossed, including the Commerce Secretary. That could leave an acting vacuum for months, pending confirmation and new cabinet appointees finding one's department with one's hands, to paraphrase a more earthy cliché.

According to the same source, Wayne B. Paugh (patriotized portrait at right) has his hat in the ring to take the Deputy Director spot, succeeding the hapless Margaret Peterlin. Paugh is a former aide, 2002-2004, to erstwhile PTO Director Jim Rogan. Prior to that, in 2001, Paugh was counsel for the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), a lackluster IP lobbyist.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on August 19, 2008 (boomark / email).