Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, hosted a lunch with diplomats and leadership from the Institute for Education at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
Led by CEO Coach Kathy Kemper and IFE Steward the Hon. Dr. R. David Edelman, the event included H.E. Emily Margarethe Haber of Germany, H.E. Erzhan Kazykhanov of Kazakhstan, H.E. Nersesyan of Armenia, H.E. Jonatan Vseviov of Estonia, and H.E. Stanislav Vidovic of Slovenia, who also heard from Laura Peter, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO.
These members of IFE’s Diplomatic leadership gathered over boxed lunches and conversation that covered current issues in IP, from patents and trademarks to the significant challenges of infringement that U.S. and global companies face in today’s changing digital environment.
Participants noted that Under Secretary Iancu serves in a role that is among the most storied and distinguished in the U.S. government, with Thomas Jefferson once serving as the nation’s Patent Office director, and the United States’ first patent in 1790 for fertilizer signed by President George Washington himself.
Also discussed was the key role that the USPTO and the American innovation community can play in encouraging a more diverse set of inventors and business leaders in and around science, technology, and engineering — all vital to the future of the global economy.
The discussion concluded with some of the new challenges the USPTO and counterparts around the world will face, with the advent of ever-expanding universe of artificial intelligence systems and new innovations in biology and medicine — including from many countries that have historically had only small numbers of applications for U.S. IP protection.
SPOTTED: Ambassador Haber of Germany; Ambassador Kazykhanov of Kazakhstan, Ambassador Nersesyan of Armenia, Ambassador Vseviov of Estonia, Ambassador Vidovic of Slovenia, the USPTO’s Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs Shira Perlmutter and the USPTO’s Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director Laura Peter.
