Congratulations to Sharon Israel on her new leadership role at the USPTO. I was happy to learn that Director Vidal has appointed Sharon Israel as its new Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs. Ms. Israel has been a leader of the patent bar for many yeas and will bring tremendous expertise to this important role overseeing the USPTO’s policy and international programs. For the past few years, she has been a partner at Shook Hardy focusing on patent litigation — primarily on the defense side.
I have known her outside the courtroom because of her commitment to leadership in service of the broader IP community. She currently serves or has served in governance positions with organizations including the American Intellectual Property Law Association, State Bar of Texas IP Section, Houston IP Law Association, and Foundation for the Advancement of Diversity in IP Law.
As Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs, Sharon steps into a critical role coordinating both domestic and international policy, including trade & regulatory issues. She will serve as a key advisor on both domestic US patent policy initiatives as well as international IP and trade issues. This means engaging on proposed legislation, executive actions, and judicial developments that shape American innovation policy and also representing American IP interests in trade negotiations and bilateral and multilateral dialogues.
Mary Critharis, a career USPTO official, has been serving as the interim of this role.
Congratulations! — Dennis
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Additional PTO News:
- Dir. Vidal also named a new Chief Communications Office, Jack Fleming. This is not a major change since he has been acting in this role for the past year.
- The USPTO is now accepting applications to join the new design patent bar.