Peter Pappas, USPTO Chief of Staff, Leaving the Office

Earlier today Peter Pappas, the Chief of Staff at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, announced to senior management that he will be leaving the Office at the end of June 2013 to pursue other opportunities.

While perhaps not widely known by patent attorneys in the day-to-day trenches, Pappas is well known both at the Patent Office and in Washington, DC more broadly. And although Pappas is not a patent attorney, upon joining the Patent Office in 2009, he became an important and influential player in the patent community.

Pappas is an attorney with a Clinton White House pedigree, spending time in the White House Counsel’s office. He also held various communications, government relations and policy positions at the State Department and at the FCC during the Clinton Administration. He joined the Obama Administration early in the first term, first as Chief Communications Officer at the USPTO and then later as Chief of Staff at the USPTO. He remained as Chief of Staff even after Kappos left the USPTO, working closely with Acting Director Teresa Rea.

As a long time observer of the USPTO, I can attest to the positive impact Pappas has had on the Office, albeit typically behind the scenes. In fact, while David Kappos was Director it was Pappas who was his right-hand man. As such, he was a central figure on the Executive Team at the USPTO long before he became Chief of Staff.

While there is no doubt that the rejuvenation of the Patent Office during the Obama Administration was directly related to the capable and steady leadership of Director Kappos. I equally have no doubt that Pappas has played a major role in reshaping the public image of the Office. During the Bush Administration there was a feeling that the patent bar was the enemy, not to be trusted. The flow of information from the USPTO to the industry and public was largely non-existent. That all changed when Pappas joined the Administration.

When Pappas arrived, USPTO public relations were transformed. Efforts were made to not only communicate directly and engage the stakeholder community, but the USPTO became a far more accessible entity. The USPTO is full of good stories and great people who fully believe in the mission of the Office and work very hard to fulfill their vital role in the Nation’s innovation economy. Pappas and his team embraced the unique role that America’s Innovation Office played and reached out to tell the story of what was going on in Alexandria, VA. In short, the transparent communications initiative orchestrated by Pappas at the USPTO delivered on the promises of transparency and accessibility made by President Obama.

While at the USPTO Pappas was probably most known for his political awareness. A veteran of the Clinton Administration he understood the need for government agencies with overlapping and abutting responsibility to communicate and be on the same page. This proved critically important as the White House and leaders on both sides of the aisle in Congress were attempting to make sweeping changes to the patent system.

I briefly spoke with Pappas earlier today and he tells me that he has not made any decisions about what he is doing next and has no particular time-table in mind. We will no doubt learn soon enough the direction he will move, whether it be a return to a highly successful private sector career or in another position within the Obama Administration. Wherever he lands he will make his mark, likely behind the scenes which is so commonly how key facilitators like Pappas operate. He is very good at his job and someone will land a real doer.

Over the years I have gotten to know Pappas quite well and I like him a lot. He was the first ever political appointment to be Chief of Staff at the USPTO and he handled that  job exceptionally well. Given the ever growing importance of innovation and technology to our economy it will only become ever more important to have a communications expert and government liaison like Pappas in the position of Chief of Staff. Coordinating the work of the substantive experts within the Office with what is happening in other branches of government will only become more important over time. Pappas set the bar and he will not be an easy act to follow.

I doubt that we have seen the last of Pappas in a government role, although I suspect he may go back to the private sector for a time. Over the years he has managed to stay off the radar screen always directing attention back to the USPTO, the Director, Congress or the Department of Commerce, but that was his job. He did it very capably, making it much easier for the substantive experts to focus on substance rather than politics and the media.

Pappas will be missed at the Patent Office.