Mechelle Lee is out？ UPDATE: Commerce Lists USPTO Director as Vacant, USPTO declines to comment on Michelle Lee
By Gene Quinn January 20, 2017 Earlier today, Donald J. Trump was sworn into Office as the 45th President of the United States of America. This occurred at approximately 12:00pm ET.
After the swearing in of President Trump I searched the USPTO website for some kind of news or announcement that would confirm that Michelle Lee is still Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Unable to find such an announcement, which sources had expected would come sometime yesterday, I reached out to the USPTO for comment.
I asked: “Is it possible to at least get confirmation from the USPTO on whether Michelle Lee is still the Director at this time?” My e-mail was sent at 12:40pm. The reply from the USPTO, which came quickly, declined to comment.
At this point I’m not sure what exactly to say, but with the USPTO not willing to confirm that Michelle Lee is still the Director of the Office one has to wonder what is happening at America’s innovation agency. How could it be possible that the agency would be unwilling to comment on whether Michelle Lee is the Director?
Further complicating matters, if you visit the Department of Commerce leadership webpage, the position of Deputy Under Secretary for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office is listed as “Vacant.” Here is a screenshot of the Commerce leadership webpage as of 3:00pm ET.
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https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2017/01/20/uspto-declines-comment-michelle-lee-still-director-patent-office/id=77339/