Multiple news sources have confirmed that Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) will be Pres. Obama’s nominee to head up the Commerce Department. As Secretary of Commerce, Sen. Gregg would oversee the PTO.
The third-term senator does not have a large amount of experience or background in dealing with patent or intellectual property issues. Gene Quinn of IP Watchdog notes one particular incident where Sen. Gregg was involved in legislation involving one particular patent. In 2000, Sen. Gregg inserted a provision into an agricultural finance bill that that would have extended the term of a patent owned by Columbia University that was set to expire that year. Sen. Gregg just happens to be an alumnus of Columbia. The legislation was not passed, but had it done so, it would have netted Columbia about $150 million in licensing revenue.
This seems like a fairly controversial matter from a patent point of view, but as Quinn notes:
If failure to pay federal income taxes does not disqualify a nominee from serving in the President’s Cabinet I doubt this issue will present any problems for Gregg, although it certainly deserves to be an interesting footnote in his political career.
A good thing about the nomination is that once the Secretary of Commerce is confirmed, a new PTO Director can then be named.
February 5, 2009 at 11:15 am |
[...] to Sen. Gregg’s Nomination As a follow-up to the post on Sen. Gregg’s nomination as Commerce Secretary, BNA is now reporting (subscription service) that several IP groups have come [...]
February 24, 2009 at 11:11 am |
[...] attempt to nominate a new Secretary of Commerce, the cabinet post that oversees the PTO: here, here, and here. Well, after the failed nominations of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and [...]