USPTO’s Michelle Lee outlines vision
The newly-appointed deputy director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has outlined her vision for the future and highlighted clamping down on “abusive” patent litigation as a key aim.
Michelle Lee (pictured), who was appointed in December last year, officially took up her post this month.
Writing in her first blog post, which is published on the USPTO website, Lee said she aims to retain the US’s “global competitiveness” in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
Lee said the USPTO will engage with stakeholders and members of Congress from both political parties to improve the US patent and patent litigation systems.
“That includes supporting Congress’s current consideration of legislation to target abusive patent litigation tactics and speed [up] resolution of disputes over IP rights,” Lee wrote.
The US government has made increased efforts to tackle the problem of non-practising entities (NPEs) filing abusive lawsuits.
The Innovation Act, a bill designed to clamp down on NPEs, sometimes referred to as “patent trolls”, was passed by the House of Representatives in November.
