By Donald Zuhn —

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced today that Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke (at right) has appointed Nicholas Godici "to look at ways to strengthen the management structure of the USPTO and provide an up-to-date assessment of the challenges the office faces."  The USPTO release notes that Mr. Godici will serve as a consultant for 180 days, working with USPTO officials "to identify areas of concern and to assist in the transition to a new director."  Secretary Locke stated that he was "counting on [Mr. Godici] to use his decades of experience to help us strengthen the management of the USPTO and identify the areas most in need of attention by the new director."

According to a profile posted on the USPTO website, Mr. Godici (at left), who is currently an executive advisor at Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP, worked at the USPTO for 33 years, starting as a patent examiner and eventually serving as Commissioner for Patents from 2000-05.  In 2001, he also served as the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO.  Mr. Godici received a bachelor's degree in engineering mechanics from Penn State University and a certificate of advanced public management from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Patent Docs readers may recall that Mr. Godici was one of two dozen participants to participate in a roundtable discussion on deferred examination hosted by the USPTO in February (see "Patent Office Hosts Roundtable on Deferred Examination: The Proponents").  Mr. Godici was among thirteen roundtable participants who supported (or were at least minimally receptive to) a deferred examination system.  While Mr. Godici did not appear to be a true proponent of deferred examination, he did state that if the USPTO could produce modeling indicating that deferred examination would lead to an 18-month pendency, such a system would be "attractive."  Mr. Godici was also one of ten contributors to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report issued in December that provided eleven recommendations to the new administration for improving USPTO policies and procedures (see "U.S. Chamber of Commerce Provides Detailed Recommendations to New Administration Regarding USPTO").  (Interestingly, one of the report's eleven proposals was to implement a deferred examination system.)