List of people who have headed the United States Patent Office

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Following is a list of persons who have headed the United States Patent Office. The title associated with this function has changed over time, from Superintendent of Patents to Commissioner of Patents to Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. The duties of the office have also evolved significantly, including coming to encompass the supervision of trademark issuance as well as that of patents.

Patent Office Head[1] Began
service		 Ended
service
Commissioners for the Promotion of Useful Arts or Patent Board[2]
Edmund Randolph
Henry Knox
Thomas Jefferson		 1790 1793
Secretary of State[3][2]
Edmund Randolph 1794 1795
Timothy Pickering 1795 May 12, 1800
John Marshall May 13, 1800 March 4, 1801
James Madison March 5, 1801 1802
Superintendent of Patents[4][2]
William Thornton June 1, 1802 March 28, 1828
Thomas P. Jones April 12, 1828 June 10, 1829
John D. Craig June 11, 1829 February 1, 1835
James Chamberlayne Pickett February 1, 1835 May 1835
Commissioner of Patents
(Patent Act of July 4, 1836)[4]
Henry L. Ellsworth July 8, 1835 April 1, 1845[5]
Edmund Burke May 4, 1845 1849
Thomas Ewbank May 9, 1849 1852
Silas H. Hodges November 8, 1852 1853
Charles Mason May 16, 1853 August 5, 1857
Joseph Holt September 10, 1857 Mar 1859
William Darius Bishop May 27, 1859 1860
Philip F. Thomas February 16, 1860 December 10, 1860
David P. Holloway March 28, 1861 1865
Thomas Clarke Theaker August 17, 1865 January 20, 1868
Elisha Foote July 29, 1868 Mar 1869
Samuel S. Fisher April 26, 1869 November 10, 1870
Mortimer D. Leggett January 16, 1871 1874
John M. Thacher November 4, 1874 October 1, 1875
Robert Holland Duell October 1, 1875 1877
Ellis Spear January 30, 1877 1878
Halbert Eleazer Paine November 1, 1878 1880
Edgar M. Marble May 7, 1880 1883
Benjamin Butterworth November 1, 1883 1885
Martin Van Buren Montgomery March 23, 1885 1887
Benton Jay Hall April 12, 1887 1889
Charles Elliott Mitchell April 1, 1889 1891
William E. Simonds August 1, 1891 1892
John S. Seymour March 31, 1893 1897
Benjamin Butterworth April 7, 1897 1898
Charles Holland Duell February 3, 1898 1901
Frederick Innes Allen April 11, 1901 1907
Edward Bruce Moore 1907 1913
Thomas Ewing 1913 1917
James T. Newton 1917 1920
Robert Frederick Whitehead 1920 1921
Melvin H. Coulston 1921 1921
Thomas E. Robertson 1921 1933
Conway Peyton Coe 1933 September 14, 1945
Casper W. Ooms September 15, 1945 1947
Lawrence C. Kingsland 1947 1949
John A. Marzall 1949 1953
Robert C. Watson 1953 1961
David Lowell Ladd 1961 1963
Edward J. Brenner 1964 1969
William E. Schuyler, Jr. 1969 1971
Robert Gottschalk 1972 1973
Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
(PL 93-596 of January 2, 1975)[4]
C. Marshall Dann 1974 1977
Donald W. Banner 1978 1979
Sidney A. Diamond 1979 1981
Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
(Public Law 97-366 of October 25, 1982)[4]
Gerald J. Mossinghoff 1981 1985
Donald J. Quigg 1985 1990
Harry F. Manbeck, Jr. 1990 1992
Bruce A. Lehman August 5, 1993 1998
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
(American Inventor’s Protection Act of November 29, 1999)[4]
Q. Todd Dickinson 1998 January 19, 2001
Nicholas P. Godici (acting) January 2001 November 30, 2001[4]
James E. Rogan December 10, 2001 January 9, 2004
Jon Dudas 2004 November 14, 2008[4]
John J. Doll (acting) November 15, 2008 August 12, 2009[4]
David Kappos August 13, 2009 January 31, 2013
Teresa Stanek Rea (acting) February 1, 2013 January 12, 2014
Michelle K. Lee January 13, 2014 June 7, 2017
Joseph Matal (acting) June 7, 2017 February 8, 2018[4]
Andrei Iancu February 8, 2018[6] January 19, 2021[7]
Drew Hirshfeld (performing the duties of Director) January 19, 2021 April 13, 2022
Kathi Vidal April 13, 2022 Present

Note:
a Dickinson served in analogous role as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks beginning in 1998. That position was transformed into the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office effective January 17, 2001.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Past USPTO Leaders". U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Dobyns, Kenneth (1994). The Patent Office Pony: A History of the Early Patent Offices. Fredericksburg, VA: Seargeant Kirkland's Press. p. 23-24. ISBN 1887901132.
  3. ^ Patent Act of 1793 transferred responsibility for patents to the Secretary of State
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Directors of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office". August 29, 2014.
  5. ^ Title of office changed from Superintendent to Commissioner on July 4, 1836.
  6. ^ Fucito, Paul (February 8, 2018). "Andrei Iancu Begins Role as New Director of United States Patent and Trademark Office". U.S Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  7. ^ "Director Andrei Iancu has stepped-down as PTO Director". Patently-O. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
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