US Secretary of Commerce Appoints Arent Fox Partner Marylee Jenkins Vice Chair of USPTO’s Patent Public Advisory Committee

She was appointed to a two-year term by US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, effective December 1, 2014. Ms. Jenkins joined the PPAC in January 2013.

Created by Congress in 1999, the PPAC reviews USPTO policies, performance, and budget with respect to patents, and issues an annual report to the President, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, and the Secretary of Commerce. The nine Committee members serve at the pleasure of the Secretary of Commerce and are appointed, according to the legislation that created the PPAC, based on “substantial background and achievement in finance, management, labor relations, science [or] technology,” among others.

Ms. Jenkins chairs the PPAC’s international subcommittee, which provided the chapter on the USPTO’s international patent initiatives in the Committee’s just-released 2014 Report, available here. The chapter reviews the USPTO’s activities as part of the Global Dossier Initiative, an effort to streamline and standardize the patent application process among the five regions internationally with the most filings worldwide: the United States, the European Union, Korea, Japan, and China. The PPAC 2014 Report also covers topics including finance, information technology, budget, legislation, and the overall state of the patent system, and makes recommendations for improvements at the USPTO.

“It’s been an honor for me to serve on the Committee and to try to make a difference in improving functionality and efficiency of our nation’s Patent Office, whose role in protecting American innovation is so vital,” said Ms. Jenkins. “I look forward to continuing to serve the PPAC in my new post as vice chair and to seeing that it remains the high-performing, cooperative vehicle it has been for communicating new ideas to the USPTO.”

Ms. Jenkins focuses her practice on counseling and litigation related to computer and Internet matters, including e-commerce; licensing and co-branding; advertising; domain name disputes; portfolio management; patent prosecution and enforcement; and bankruptcy, among others. Her clients represent industries such as hardware and software; electrical and electromechanical systems; the information and financial sectors; consumer products; fashion; medical devices; and various computer-related technologies.

Ms. Jenkins earned her law degree from New York Law School, a BS in mechanical engineering from Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science, and a BS in physics from Centre College of Kentucky. A past Chairperson of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law and past President of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association, she has lectured widely on a variety of intellectual property topics as well as written for and been quoted in numerous media. She currently serves on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems.

Chambers Global, Chambers USA, and Legal 500 have recognized the Arent Fox’s Intellectual Property practice and its attorneys as industry leaders. Arent Fox is one of the few “go-to” firms for novel and high-profile intellectual property issues. With more than 100 full-time IP professionals, the group offers a full range of services across copyright, patent, and trademark matters.