Posts Tagged: "deputy director"

Deputy Director Teresa Rea has now been at the USPTO for approximately 1 year, but seems as invigorated and full of energy as she did when I first met up with her.  She seems to love the job and relish the challenges that come with this moment in Patent Office history. We chatted for approximately 55 minutes, discussing USPTO hiring, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, the America Invents Act, what a typical day looks like on her calendar and much more.

If you are a serious inventor you need to go to this Conference. Last year there were inventors who came to the USPTO campus for the two-day event from all over the East Coast, and those that I talked to thought it was well worth their time and money. Where else are you going to be able to meet Senior USPTO officials and talk to them one-on-one? There will be patent examiners and trademark examining attorneys present to answer your questions. Local intellectual property attorneys will give their time to participate in teaching sessions, as well as giving free consultations to attendees to answer questions. Even if you have to travel to California and stay in a hotel for a couple nights you will get far more out of the Conference than you will spend. I understand money is tight, but serious inventors, whether they are newbies or old pros, will gain a tremendous amount of valuable information and personal connections by attending the Conference.

While at the USPTO Barner commuted back to Chicago on weekends to visit her family, choosing not to uproot her children from their schools. Since leaving the Patent and Trademark Office she has returned to Chicago and to Foley & Lardner. Barner was the keynote speaker at the 5th Annual Patent Law Institute sponsored by the Practising Law Instituted. I caught up with her in San Francisco at the Patent Law Institute on March 21, 2011. What follows is the transcript of my interview with her.

In part 2 of the interview we discuss the energizer bunny, known better as USPTO Director David Kappos. We also discuss what skills she has brought from a private law practice that she feels will help her most at the Patent and Trademark Office. Finally, we discussed initiatives the USPTO is pursuing to assist women entrepreneurs and the inevitable questions about where we stand with patent reform.

I found Terry to be extremely knowledgeable and very easy to talk to, which should probably read that I perceive her to be a patent geek just like me. A geek in a good way, of course. Those patent attorneys and agents reading know what I mean. We so enjoy what we do and so infrequently get to talk to anyone about it with anyone who really cares, so when we do the conversation is a blast. Terry Rea has been immersed in everything patents, from prosecution to opinions to interferences and litigation, and I get the sense that she loves patents and innovation. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with her.

Deputy Director Designate Rea is a patent attorney herself, having been admitted to the patent bar on December 15, 1981. According to her profile page on her firm’s website – Crowell & Moring LLP – Rea’s practice has focused on complex patent litigation and inter partes matters, as well as patent procurement and portfolio management, including patent preparation and prosecution. Rea also has experience in drafting infringement and validity opinions, as well as interference, and licensing matters. Therefore, it seems that the push to have high achievers with industry specific patent experience continues at the Patent Office, which is refreshing.

On Friday, October 2, 2009. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke appointed Sharon Barner to the post of deputy director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter John Schmid reported yesterday that in a telephone interview with Barner she explained that she is a long time associate of President Barack Obama, knows him personally and has…