A new president makes a lot of appointments. Although the Patent Office Director is an important position, it is still a fair way down the list in terms of urgency. One reason–that most PTO management decisions are not highly political (especially in the R vs D sense). Unlike for some agencies, President Biden has not vowed to reverse course on any particular USPTO policy. We also have a long tradition of career PTO employees stepping-up and capably leading the agency as Drew Hirshfeld is doing now. But, it is time for a nomination, and I expect that we’ll see one within the next month or so.
Looking back, President Trump nominated Andrei Iancu toward the end of August; President Obama nominated his first Director David Kappos in June; and President Bush nominated his first Director James Rogan in September.
Meanwhile, the USPTO is holding its PPAC meeting on Thursday, Aug 5, 2021. You can find the agenda and webex link here: https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/events/attend-patent-public-advisory-committee-quarterly-meeting-8
Source: https://patentlyo.com/patent/2021/08/upcoming-uspto-director.html
