[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.