Last month, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, sent a letter to President Biden regarding the selection of the next Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  Sen. Tillis (at right) noted that "at this critical juncture in our nation's history, we cannot take our innovation and creative economy for granted," and urged the President to work together with Congress "to provide strong protections for our innovative and creative works."  With respect to the next USPTO Director, Sen. Tillis outlined five characteristics that he believed any nominee "must possess":

• The nominee "must truly appreciate and value American intellectual property and must treat it for what it is -- a vested property right," and "should understand that clear, predictable, and enforceable intellectual property protections are absolutely critical, and must commit to do everything in their power to strengthen and protect those rights."

• The nominee must commit to continuing the administrative reforms made by the previous Director, Andrei Iancu.  Pointing in particular to Director Iancu's reforms to the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB), Sen. Tillis noted that the prior Director's reforms "have ensured that all rights holders, from individual inventors to innovative startups to industry titans, receive fair and equitable treatment."  Sen. Tillis indicated that the next Director must ensure that the USPTO "doesn't return to being viewed as a 'death squad' for intellectual property rights."

• The nominee "must understand the importance of critical and emerging technologies to America's innovation economy and national security," noting that such technologies include precision medicine, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, 5G, and the internet of things, which Sen. Tillis indicated "will be critical to maintaining America's global dominance, both from economic and security perspectives."  According to Sen. Tillis, the next Director should ensure that "private actors have the incentive to invest in the research and development" of such technologies.

• The nominee "must be a consistent advocate for the inclusion of strong intellectual property protections in all of our future trade agreements."  In particular, Sen. Tillis believes the next Director "should be an advocate and thought leader for new, modern, and ultimately stronger intellectual property protection standards in all international agreements."

• The nominee "must be committed to increasing diversity in our nation's intellectual property system."  Sen. Tillis declared that "[f]or too long, too many women and people of color have been underrepresented in our innovation ecosystem," stating that "[t]hese individuals often face unique barriers to engaging in the intellectual property system and their lack of access costs our economy billions of dollars every year."  Sen. Tillis believes the next Director should be "committed to increasing the voluntary participation of underrepresented groups in our innovation ecosystem."

Sen. Tillis concluded his letter by noting that "given the importance of strong intellectual property protections to our nation's innovation and creative economy, our trade relationships, and our national security, it is vital that whomever you select for this critical position meets all of these qualifications and truly appreciates and values intellectual property as a right."  And the Senator indicated that "[a]nyone who fails to meet these standards will not receive my vote."