By Christopher P. Singer --
In a January 15, 2010 press release,
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced three new members to the Patent Public Advisory Committee
(PPAC) and two new members to the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC), as named by
Commerce Secretary Locke. The Public Advisory Committees for the USPTO, which were
created by statute in the AIPA, review the policies, goals, performance,
budget, and user fees of the patent and trademark operations, and advise the
Director on those matters. The committees are comprised of
U.S. citizens who are selected to represent the interests of the diverse
users of the USPTO. Each committee consists of nine voting members who are
appointed by the Secretary of Commerce and who serve three-year terms. The new members of the Patent Public Advisory Committee are:
Dr.
Benjamin Borson is the founder of Borson Law Group, PC
where he advises small, mid-sized, and large clients in developing
business-based IP strategies in the life sciences and high technology
industries. He has been an IP professional for 15 years and is a frequent
author and speaker on IP law. Dr. Borson has been active in organizing
discussions and meetings regarding science and law, including symposia
highlighting USPTO Technology Center 1600 practices and procedures through the
San Francisco area BioScience Forum which he founded and has previously served
as its president. He is the
current chairman of the Legislation Committee of the IP Section of the
California State Bar and is a former member of the Executive Committee of the
Intellectual Property Section of the California State Bar. According to
his resume, Dr. Borson earned his Ph.D. in physiology at the University of
California, San Francisco and his J.D. from the University of San Francisco
School of Law. Prior to exploring law, he worked at UCSF as a
researcher and adjunct lecturer, and was later a visiting scientist with
Genentech. Dr. Borson has
published over seventy scientific articles, including reviews, book chapters,
and research articles and owns two patents. He has also published over
twenty publications in legal periodicals and has presented a number of lectures
on legal matters to legal, academic, and industrial organizations. During his legal practice, Dr. Borson
worked in a wide array of technologies including biotechnology, chemistry,
pharmaceutical, semi-conductor, electronic compression technology, medical,
analytical instrumentation, and bioinformatics fields.
Steven
W. Miller is Vice President and General Counsel-Intellectual
Property for Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio and has worked in various
positions in within the I.P. section of its law department since he started in
1984. Mr. Miller received his degrees (B.S. and J.D.) from The Ohio State
University. He is affiliated with number organizations, including serving
as a member of the Executive Committee for the Association of Corporate Patent
Counsels, the Steering Committee for the Coalition for 21st Century Patent
Reform and the Board of Directors for the National Inventors Hall of
Fame. He is a past president and serves as a Board of Directors member
for the Intellectual Property Owners Association and the Intellectual Property
Owners Association Education Foundation.
Esther
Kepplinger is the director of patent operations and serves as
the liaison to the USPTO for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC according
to her profile page. Prior to joining the firm in 2005, she served as deputy commissioner for patent
operations in the USPTO where she oversaw the nation's patent-examination
process, with all the patent examiners in the United States reporting to her. Ms.
Kepplinger managed a budget of $700 million and approximately 4,500 people. During her service as deputy commissioner, the number of filed patent
applications increased to more than 350,000 and the Office granted about
170,000 patents. She helped to establish the policies and strategic direction
of the patent examining corps, implement the PTO's goals for improving quality
and efficiency of service. She began working for the USPTO in 1973 and held a
variety of positions within the Office, including patent examiner and
supervisor in a biotechnology art unit and group director for the chemical and
materials engineering group. While at the USPTO, Ms. Kepplinger received a
number of awards, including the Presidential Rank Award in 2002 and the
Department of Commerce Gold Medal in 1998 and 2004. She is active in the AIPLA where she serves as the vice
chair of the Patent Agents Committee and is a member of the Special Committee
on Legislation. She holds a certificate in Advanced Public Management
from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and
a B.S. in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Damon
Matteo is the Vice President and chief intellectual
property officer of the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Prior to joining PARC, he managed
Hewlett-Packard's licensing organization. Secretary Locke appointed Mr. Matteo to serve as chairman of PPAC for a
three-year term. He has spent over two decades deeply involved in intellectual
capital management (ICM) and has extensive experience in the creation,
strategic management, venture/funding, and commercialization of corporate
intellectual property assets. Mr.
Matteo has received a variety of professional awards, including: being named
one of the "Fifty Most Influential People in Intellectual Property";
the National Technology Transfer Excellence Award; the R&D 100 Award; and
Senior Distinguished Fellow with the Center for Advanced Technology. Mr. Matteo
also serves on the Board of Directors for the European Center for Intellectual
Property Studies, and was selected principal industry expert in intellectual
capital for both the U.S. Security & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the
United Nations.
The next PPAC meeting is currently scheduled for
February 11, 2010, with the time and location yet to be determined.
Kepplinger looks like inbreeding. Further, she is linked to past PTO mismanagement which has earned notoriety with inventors for forced allowance rates. The PTO needs a clean break from the past...and maybe the present if is to gain any respect with inventors.
Posted by: staff | February 01, 2010 at 11:34 AM