Last week, the country’s transition of power brought more changes to the White House than the USPTO. Director Andrei Iancu confirmed this week that he would be stepping down, a typical move for political appointees of a former administration (though the office itself skews apolitical).
I think the most exciting IP related change to DC last week is the action of the nation’s first second gentleman, Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer with real trademark and copyright law chops. Emhoff recently stepped down from private practice after numerous heavy hitting achievements such as taking on Taco Bell in connection with a certain chihuahua brand and stopping the production of a wine with branding and trade dress confusingly similar to Francis Ford Coppola’s namesake bottles. He will now focus access to justice, and I look forward to seeing how he uses this unique platform.
Like Emhoff, I’m pretty proud of the lawyer I live with. Our family has had some exciting changes over the last few months, and I could not run this show without him.