by Dennis Crouch
Last week I reported on the $500,000 settlement between the Department of Justice and patent examiner Daxin Wu, who allegedly examined at least nine patent applications from companies in which she held substantial stock positions—including holdings exceeding $300,000 in one company—and reviewed applications from competitors of a company in which she held more than $900,000 in stock. Dennis Crouch, Patent Examiner Pays $500K for Financial Conflicts — But the Real Story may be Systemic, Patently-O (Feb. 26, 2026). That post traced the enforcement action back to a damning 2024 Inspector General report estimating that roughly 2,100 patent examiners—about 30% of those required to file financial disclosures—had potential financial conflicts that went undetected. U.S. Dep't of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, The Department Needs to Strengthen Its Ethics Oversight for USPTO Patent Examiners, Final Report No. OIG-24-013-I (Feb. 14, 2024). Today, Director John Squires has responded. In a memorandum dated March 2, 2026 and addressed to all employees in the Office of the Commissioner for Patents, Director Squires directs that any Patents employee who participates in deciding the scope of patent rights must affirmatively recuse from examining any application where they hold stock or bonds—publicly traded or privately held—in any listed applicant, regardless of the dollar value of those holdings. Director Squires' memo on examiner stock ownership.
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