USPTO Director Announces Resignation | McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
Derrick Brent, the Deputy Director, will assume her position (at least temporarily) starting in the second week of December. As Director, Ms. Vidal’s (at right) involvement in a number of initiatives that are unlikely to survive a change in administration is evident in her letter. Her announcement relates her intentions to go back to the private sector.
Regarding her tenure, Ms. Vidal provides praise for the PTO workforce and called the Office during her tenure an “agency of opportunity.” She cites the Office’s achievements during her tenure as Director, highlighting the National Strategy for Inclusive innovation, National Entrepreneurship Strategy, and the creation of “the Office of Public Engagement.” The Office’s continuing mission, she states, is “to drive U.S. innovation, inclusive capitalism, and global competitiveness for the benefit of all Americans,” and calls for a peaceful and orderly transition” of administrations.
The message itself is set forth below, including her personal e-mail address.
Message to my USPTO friends and colleagues:
It has been an honor and a true joy to be with you on our collective journey these last few years. Together, we have transformed the USPTO. We have successfully executed our mission to proactively promote and defend strong intellectual property in order to lift communities, create jobs, and foster an innovative spirit among all Americans. We have been successful due to our commitment to put employees first. My last day with the USPTO is the second week in December. I will be moving back into the private sector and working with individuals and companies directly, committed to our same mission.
Know that the work we have done–from weaving employee experience and inclusion into the fabric of our operations, to focusing on the USPTO as not only America’s Innovation Agency but as an agency of opportunity–will persist.
Thank you for your dedication, service, and support of one another. You have challenged each other and me to be better. You have met that challenge every day, with your ingenuity and thoughtfulness. You are not only the most talented and innovative people I have ever worked with. You are also my friends and valued colleagues and I will always be grateful for your work. It powers our communities and nation. Together, we refocused the USPTO on its employees and customers. We were united by the mission of driving U.S. Innovation, inclusive capitalism, global competitiveness, and the benefit to all Americans. We sat down with our union representatives and incorporated our people-first philosophy into updated collective bargaining agreement for Patents and Trademarks staff and future support staff. We also created the Office of Public Engagement in order to strengthen and expand our outreach. I am proud of the incredible progress we have made together. We have developed policies, procedures and processes to improve employee experience and inclusion. You contributed thousands of ideas and questions to these changes, through my small listening sessions. We were also named as one of the best places to work for the government in this year. That is an accolade I know I am very proud of and that agency leadership is committed to maintaining.
As we approach the end of the Biden-Harris Administration, please keep up the good work and continue to execute on our mission for innovators and creators. Please be ready to work with the new administration’s team. As President Biden said last week, the American people deserve a peaceful and orderly transition.
Even though I will be moving on in the next few weeks, I am committed to finding new ways to work alongside and support you, including founding a new ChIPs USPTO chapter, working to foster our alumni network that we launched here together, supporting you through the Patent and Trademark Office Society and the American Association of Patent Judges, advancing our National Strategy for Inclusive Innovation and National Entrepreneurship Strategy, and so much more!
