Former Google Lawyer Michelle Lee To Run US Patent Office

First time accepted submitter Tigger's Pet writes "The BBC report that 'Google's former top patent lawyer has been put in charge of America's patent and trademark office (USPTO). Michelle Lee was made deputy director of the USPTO this week and will run the agency while it seeks a new boss. Ms Lee joined the patent office after leaving Google in June 2012 but said the opinions of her former employer would not guide her work.' Maybe she will use her knowledge from some of the insanity she has seen to actually tackle the current situation of patents, patent-trolling and lawsuits, so that companies can concentrate on true development which benefits all their users, not just the lawyers."

Comments

Really.

[Bovius]

"...but said the opinions of her former employer would not guide her work."

I wonder if she rolled her eyes and winked after saying this.

This is one of those situations where I think the chosen person could actually do an enormous amount of good if they had the will to, but I have little to no hope that that will be the actual outcome.

Re:Really.

[Anonymous Coward]

She will be working in the Obama administration. I assure you she will be a crony corporatist puppet.

You tell''em!

Back in the days of the Bush Administration, we NEVER had to worry about Crony Capitalism! Why Dick Cheney HIMSELF made sure that Afgan and Iraq wars were supplied by the most transparent and competitively bid government contracts EVER!

I miss Bush! With the economy the way it is, it's obvious that we need more wars to boost the economy. Fuck it! Let's invade Syria AND Iran!

After all, there are MILLIONS of unemployed young people in this country and what better purpose for them than to die for a bogu...necessary war to fight for Freedom!

Freedom isn't Free - ya know!

Re:Really.

[king neckbeard]

Bush being a crony corporatist doesn't mean Obama isn't also a crony corporatist. In fact, if they have an (R) or a (D) in front of their name, they are probably a crony corporatist.

Re:Not likely to help

[StripedCow]

The biggest problem right now is that the USPTO is being paid for the amount of patents that is approved, as opposed to being paid for the amount of patents that are turned down (due to prior art, etc.)

It is a bit like paying fishermen for the amount of fish they *didn't* catch.

If she would accept this change in financial dependence, then I'd say there is hope. But right now I don't see it happening.

Re:Not likely to help

[Trepidity]

Huh, I didn't realize that. Looks like, for large companies at least (there are some discounts for individual inventors), the fees break down roughly like this:

• Filing/search/examination fees: $1600
• Issuance of an approved patent: $1780
• Maintenance of an approved patent over its full lifespan: $12,600

So basically the USPTO gets $1600 if the patent is rejected, or $15,980 if it's approved.

Re:Are you serious?

[davester666]

What are you saying?

The US gov't has a long history of hiring/appointing people from industry to work in order to improve the system. It works every time.

Re:Companies

[Dachannien]

The summary actually isn't spot on, because Lee was appointed as the deputy director. She will be the "acting director" until the President appoints a new director and the Senate confirms him or her.

There is actually a concern that this appointment is not valid, because the law requires that the deputy director be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce after being nominated by the USPTO director. We don't actually have a USPTO director currently, so it's not clear from where the authority for this appointment is derived.