Immediately prior to the holiday recess on Capitol Hill, Andrei Iancu (pictured left), President Trump’s nominee to become the new Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Mr. Iancu has a proven record in the field of intellectual property law,” Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said moments before the vote. “He has an excellent academic and professional background in intellectual property law. He’s extremely knowledgeable about the patent system. He’s well respected in the legal community.”
“We congratulate Mr. Iancu on his support from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to be Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,” said Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper. “We believe he will heed the views of independent inventors, entrepreneurs, and various industry groups—all those that form our U.S. innovation ecosystem.” Pomper went on to urge the full Senate to approve the Iancu nomination as soon as possible. “We look forward to working with Mr. Iancu in creating a strong and stable U.S. intellectual property landscape for entities of all sizes, enabling the U.S. to reassert its position as an international leader in innovation,” Pomper said.
Favorably reporting Andrei Iancu to the full Senate for confirmation as Director of the USPTO is an important next step along the nomination path.
Iancu was originally nominated by President Trump in August 2017. The Senate Judiciary Committee held its hearing on his nomination on November 29, 2017, unanimously voting on December 14, 2017 to favorably report his nomination to the entire Senate for action. As of yet, there is no scheduled vote on the Iancu nomination in the Senate, although Senators are back from their holiday recess and have started taking up nominations. See Iancu Nomination Actions.
For more information on the Iancu nomination please see:
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