Trump Names Coke Stewart as Acting Director of USPTO
Coke Morgan Stewart has been sworn in as the new Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)… Stewart will immediately begin serving as Acting Director of the USPTO…”
Coke Morgan Stewart, Acting Director of the USPTO.
At 12:01pm on Monday, January 20, 2025, a moment after President Donald J. Trump took the oath of office to start his second term as President, Coke Morgan Stewart was sworn in as the new Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The ceremony was held in Washington, DC at the United States Department of Commerce.
The Deputy Director position is not Senate confirmable, so the Trump Administration can place Stewart into the agency from day one. Stewart, who has been named Deputy Undersecretary, will serve as Acting Undersecretary, and Acting Director at the USPTO. She will then assume the role of deputy upon confirmation by the Senate of whoever President Trump selects as the next Undersecretary, and Director. Interviews for the position continue.
Stewart is known to be a strong believer in the U.S. patent system and patent rights in general. She is expected to be a strong ally for all innovators but especially for startups, small and mid-sized enterprises, and research and development firms that rely heavily on IP and survive because of a U.S. Patent. She is said to have a similar view on patents to Howard Lutnick’s, the President Trump nominee for Secretary of Commerce. Lutnick, himself a prolific inventor who has made many millions of dollars with his patented inventions, seems by all accounts to be very strongly pro-patent.
Stewart is no stranger to the USPTO, and those who have spoken with IPWatchdog have indicated that while at the Office she was well liked and highly respected by those inside and outside the agency. Stewart held various senior management positions at the USPTO for more than a ten-year period, from Senior Advisor to Deputy Solicitor, to Acting Director of Staff, and finally, after the end of the first Trump administration, she was functionally serving as the Deputy Director. Her title then officially read “Perform the Functions and duties of Deputy Undersecretary for Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Deputy Director of USPTO.” After stepping down from her position as Deputy Attorney-General, Stewart joined O’Melveny & Myers LLP. This global law firm has 18 offices and over 800 lawyers. Stewart, an experienced intellectual property and appellate lawyer, represented both patent holders and accused patent infringers, including through jury trial in the Eastern Districts of Texas and Virginia. As is customary for all agencies, political appointees are required to submit a resignation letter prior to a change in Administration. This is usually dated to go into effect at 12:00pm the day of the inauguration. This ensures that the transition between Derrick Brent (the outgoing Acting Director) and Stewart, who will be taking over the agency after Kathi Vidal, the former Director, resigned from her position in December, is smooth.
Gene Quinn is an expert on patent law, innovation policy and patent law. Mr. Quinn was twice named as one of the 50 most influential people in the world
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