Ringing the changes

Haynes and Boone’s David McCombs, EugeneGoryunov, Clint Wilkins, Jonathan Bowser and Angela Oliver look at the changes at the USPatent Trial and Appeal Board under Director Andrei Iancu

David McCombs,Eugene Goryunov, Clint Wilkins, Jonathan Bowser and Angela Oliver, Haynes and Boone

Andrei Iancu was sworn in as Under Secretary of Commerce forIntellectual Property and Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO) on 23 February 2018, after being unanimously confirmed by the Senate.Shortly after his confirmation, Iancu stated that under his leadership, thePTAB would “take a holistic approach to fully implement the intent” of theAmerica Invents Act (AIA) so that PTAB trials would “be a true alternative todistrict court litigation, not a consistent multiple bite at the apple.” ¹