The Senate Judiciary Committee has set the confirmation hearing for David Kappos for Wednesday, July 29. Kappos has been nominated to become Director of the PTO and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. The Committee also released the completed questionnaire associated with the nomination, as well as several letters supporting the nomination.
It is still unclear whether Kappos will be confirmed before September. It is a bit surprising that the confirmation hearing will take place prior to Congress’ August recess given that it is mired in the confirmation vote on Judge Sotomayor and other issues, such as health care reform. The hiring of Nick Godici to aid in the transition also seemed to signal a later confirmation of Kappos. Given the wide-spread support Kappos has received and the crises at the PTO, earlier confirmation is better than later.
