USPTO appoints acting policy head

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has appointed Mary Critharis as acting chief policy officer and director for international affairs.

Most recently, Critharis served as deputy chief policy officer and senior counsel. She temporarily replaces Shira Perlmutter, who left the position last month after being selected as the new register of copyrights at the US Copyright Office.

Critharis will serve in the role as the USPTO continues the process of identifying a permanent replacement for Perlmutter.

As the acting policy chief and director for international affairs, Critharis will serve as a policy advisor to Andrei Iancu, director of the USPTO. She will also oversee the office’s domestic and international IP policy activities, legislative engagement, education and training, global advocacy, and economic analysis.

Critharis first joined the USPTO as a patent examiner in 1992 before progressing to assistant solicitor in 2000.

Between 2001 and 2002, she served as counsel to the US Senate Judiciary Committee before returning to the office as attorney advisor (2002-2004) and senior patent counsel (2004-2011).

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