On the heels of Donald Trump’s electoral victory last week, Kathi Vidal, director of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). announced today on his personal LinkedIn page that she has informed USPTO staff internally that she will be resigning from her position effective the second week of December. Deputy Director Derrick Brent will take over until the incoming Trump Administration appoints a new director.

Brent was sworn in as Deputy Director in August 2022 and comes from both the public and private sectors, most recently as a consultant advising startups on IP and other issues. He consulted for Cut Golf, an early-stage golf equipment and apparel company. He also served as chief counsel to Senator Barbara Boxer for six years and was known as “a respected authority on the America Invents Act since 2011,” according to a USPTO press release at the time of his appointment. He clerked for the Honorable Algenon L. Marbley, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, served as a trial attorney at the Ohio law firm Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, and as a senior attorney. at the US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division.

Prior to Brent’s appointment, the position of Deputy Director had been virtually vacant for some time. Former Patent Commissioner Drew Hirshfeld, who had been “performing the functions and duties of the director” since the departure of former director Andrei Iancu in January 2021, stepped into the position of interim deputy director. Vidal swears in April 2022. Prior to that, David Berdan served as Deputy Director after Coke Stewart — who served as Deputy Director before him — left to join the faculty of Regent University School of Law. Laura Peter he was deputy director under Iancu.

Brent is also an engineer who worked for General Motors before becoming a lawyer. He worked as an engineer in the company’s powertrain division and managed engineering and business activities for several subcontracted manufacturing facilities across the country. He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University and a juris doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law (now Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law).

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Vidal, in her announcement today, characterized her time at the Office as having “transformed the USPTO” with her team and called their accomplishments “unprecedented.”

“We have fulfilled our mission to proactively defend and promote strong intellectual property to lift up communities, create better jobs, and promote the innovative American spirit around the world,” Vidal wrote. “And we’ve been successful because of our commitment to putting employees first.”

That’s a sentiment some might take issue with, though. While not commenting on Vidal specifically, but on the USPTO as a whole, at IPWatchdog LIVE 2024, former USPTO Directors Andrei Iancu and David Kappos joined former Patent Commissioner Bob Stoll and IPWatchdog’s Gene Quinn. in a panel where they discussed the current state of the USPTO and said that one of the most pressing problems for the Bureau was examiner and employee morale. While the USPTO was once on top The best jobs in the federal government list, today it’s at No. 236. The office climbed the rankings under Kappos, who said he accomplished that through “a lot of little things, but it comes down to empowering career employees.” Today, Kappos said, “the agency has become much more political and there is no career advancement for employees.”

However, the agency’s ranking has been steadily declining for some time. It hasn’t been in the top spot since 2013 and has been falling pretty steadily since then.

Vidal mentioned in today’s resignation notice, however, that the Bureau was appointed one of the most inspiring jobs in government this year.

IPWatchdog LIVE representatives also noted that the backlog has again crept under Vidal, something Vidal addressed himself in a post on the director’s blog in July, calling it “legacy” and due to “unpredictable macro effects, including a pandemic that had a huge impact on our app inventories.” According to the recent Office Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the establishment and adjustment of patent feesthe current backlog is expected to rise to 820,200 by FY 2026 before falling to 780,000 by FY 2029.

During his tenure, Vidal issued a series of requests for comments and proposed rules, some of them highly controversial. However, with her impending resignation, the most criticized rules are unlikely to advance now.

Vidal also said today that he will return to the private sector. “I will be moving back into the private sector and working directly with individuals and companies engaged in the same mission,” she wrote. She previously worked as a patent litigator and managing partner of Winston & Strawn’s Silicon Valley office.

Vidal was the second woman to be confirmed by the Senate as director of the USPTO.