[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 39 (Monday, March 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Lee and Marti Nominations
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I welcome the Senate's action today to
confirm two well-regarded practitioners to important leadership
positions charged with protecting and promoting intellectual property.
Michelle Lee, who is nominated to serve as the Director of the Patent
and Trademark Office, USPTO, will be the first woman and first Asian
Pacific American to hold this position. She is also the daughter of
immigrants who moved to this country and contributed to the growth of
Silicon Valley through her father's career as an electrical engineer.
Her historic nomination is an American success story, and it is fitting
that she is confirmed today to lead the office that is home to
countless stories of successful innovation and creation by Americans
throughout the country.
The USPTO has been without a Senate-confirmed director for more than
2 years, which is far too long for an office that is so important to
our Nation's innovators and to our economy. Close to 600,000 patent
applications and 450,000 trademark class applications are filed with
the office each year. By serving America's innovators, the USPTO helps
Vermonters and citizens across the country build their businesses and
bring their inventions to the global marketplace.
Ms. Lee is charged with leading this office at a time when too many
bad actors are abusing the patent system. Something must be done to
address misconduct by bad actors who are targeting everyone from small
businesses in Vermont to larger companies that are crucial to our
economy. Congress plays an important role in this discussion, and as I
have said for the last 2 years, we must enact balanced reforms to
ensure the patent system can thrive. While that discussion continues in
Congress, the USPTO Director must ensure the policies we currently have
in place work for the diverse patent community.
Among those policies is carrying out the landmark reforms in the
Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, the greatest transformation to our
patent system in over 60 years. This landmark law has helped simplify
the process for patent approval, reduce backlogs at the USPTO, and
harmonize our patent system with the rest of the world. The AIA sought
to improve patent quality by creating new and more efficient
administrative proceedings at the USPTO. Three years later, the USPTO
has now received over 2,000 petitions for post-grant review. These
measures are important to help businesses that fall into the crosshairs
of overbroad patents. But improving the quality of patents also
improves their value for inventors and investors, too. The USPTO is
doing tremendous work to implement these new programs under Ms. Lee's
current leadership as Deputy Director of the office. Because of the
AIA, there are now four satellite offices around the country to make
the USPTO more accessible to inventors and small businesses. The USPTO
has strengthened its pro bono program and used its fee-setting
authority created by the AIA to gain better financial independence.
These are profound improvements, but strong leadership at the USPTO
is needed to ensure the America Invents Act helps our patent system to
thrive in the 21st century. As the USPTO's Deputy Director, Ms. Lee has
proven to be thoughtful, balanced, and respectful of the diverse
perspectives across the patent community. I look forward to continuing
the Judiciary Committee's productive relationship with Ms. Lee and with
the USPTO.
I also welcome the Senate's action today to confirm Daniel Marti as
the second Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, or ``IPEC.''
The IPEC was created by legislation I authored in 2008, the PRO-IP Act,
which passed the Senate with unanimous support. In creating this
position, our goal was to take a comprehensive approach to intellectual
property enforcement within the U.S. government, to ensure that law
enforcement has the tools it needs, and that agencies are working
together efficiently. The first IPEC, Victoria Espinel, built a strong
record in this position, and I am confident Mr. Marti will do well
continuing this important work.
The protection of intellectual property is important to our Nation's
creators, artists, inventors, and businesses alike. Whether one is a
filmmaker whose work is being copied and distributed online without
permission, or a family-owned business in Vermont that discovers knock-
off copies of its products being sold at half the price, intellectual
property theft harms innovators across the country. It also harms
consumers, as we have learned from the repeated, devastating stories of
victims who inadvertently purchased counterfeit medicines or other
products not knowing they were of dangerously low quality.
The IPEC plays an important role coordinating law enforcement and
industry efforts to address these pressing issues. Nowhere is this work
more important than in addressing counterfeiting and infringement in
the online world--a complex, global problem that requires creative,
thoughtful solutions. Just last month, leading advertising networks
announced a new initiative to help ensure that they avoid inadvertently
supporting websites that serve no legitimate purpose other than to
traffic in stolen content and property. Search engines have now
acknowledged that they, too, have a responsibility to help address
illegal activity online. I hope Mr. Marti will renew the IPEC's work to
support and encourage these voluntary initiatives, and will continue
these efforts with other actors who drive so much of the online
economy. Every business that operates in the Internet ecosystem has a
role to play.
Mr. Marti is currently the managing partner of the Washington, DC
office of Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton LLP. A graduate of Georgetown
University and Emory University School of Law, he has spent his entire
legal career specializing in intellectual property law, with a focus in
trademark law and the protection of intellectual property both
domestically and internationally.
I look forward to continuing the Judiciary Committee's productive
relationship with Mr. Marti and the IPEC office. Last year, Senator
Grassley and I sent a letter to President Obama urging him to nominate
a candidate to fill the IPEC position, which has been vacant for over
18 months. I chaired a confirmation hearing for Mr. Marti in December
in the hope that the Senate would move swiftly with his confirmation
this year. With Mr. Marti's confirmation today, the IPEC office can
return fully to its important work.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote on two
nominees charged with important responsibilities in the enforcement of
our Nation's intellectual property laws.
The first is Daniel Marti, who is nominated to become Intellectual
Property Enforcement Coordinator in the Executive Office of the
President.
The second is Michelle Lee, who is nominated to become the next Under
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The United States is a world leader in the innovation of cutting-edge
technologies and products that improve our daily lives. Importantly,
the United States' economy, indeed every industry, relies heavily on
intellectual property.
Because intellectual property rights are critical to the Nation's
economic well-being, we need strong and capable leaders at the helm of
the offices that deal with patents, trademarks and copyrights. And
because the top positions at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and
the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator have
been vacant for quite some time, I am pleased that we are able to fill
them today with two highly qualified candidates.
Mr. Marti and Ms. Lee have proven track records in the field of
intellectual property law and are well respected by the intellectual
property community.
Their experience and expertise are of the caliber required for their
respective positions. I believe they are excellent candidates for these
positions, and I will support their nominations.