BREAKING NEWS: It's Official: David Kappos Next Director ...

Senator Leahy on Mr Kappos:

"His experience both as a development engineer and as a leading intellectual property attorney make Mr. Kappos exceptionally qualified to lead the Patent and Trademark Office. While serving as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at IBM, Mr. Kappos has managed IBM’s vast patent and trademark portfolios. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, and the International Intellectual Property Society."

Recently, Mr Joff Wild wrote in IAM Blog:

"[...] Although Kappos ticks all the boxes in terms of his patent and general IP experience, both in the US and internationally,as I wrote a while back I can see his appointment raising quite a few eyebrows in certain parts of the US patent community. His views on patent quality, as well as what IBM has had to say on issues such as software and business method patents under his leadership will not go down well in certain quarters; neither will the fact that he is so closely identified with Big Blue and the high-tech sector. Where is his experience of other industries and their patent needs, some may ask; while others will wonder whether such a patent insider is the man the government's IP agency should have in charge - can he distance himself from industry and represent the interests that all Americans have in their IP system?

However, whoever gets the job as Director is not going to please everyone. For what it's worth, I think Kappos would be a great choice. I have been writing about IP since 1992 and have seen a number of USPTO Directors come and go. Whatever their merits, none of them had the deep industry experience that Kappos has. And it seems to me that an industry appointment is exactly what the office needs - someone who can relate what the office does to the wider world and who understands how the decisions it takes affect company investment choices, as well as bottom line performance. As you would expect of someone that has worked at IBM for over 20 years, Kappos also knows a bit about IT, an area where the USPTO needs to do a lot of work. It's also worth mentioning that IBM has also come out publicly in favour of the damages apportionment compromise recently agreed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

I have met Kappos on several occasions and have always been impressed by him. He strikes me as an innovative thinker about IP, who is open to new ideas and who is prepared to discuss issues with people who might hold views that do not coincide with his own. Whether he is a politician, though, remains to be seen. And that is one big skill that any USPTO Director needs in this age of blogs, instant reaction and growing corporate and political awareness of the importance of IP issues. [...]"

I think Mr Wild's words give a quite comprehensive idea of what might be expected from Mr Kappos' term of Office as Director USPTO. It might be interesting to learn what kind of thinking Mr Kappos will bring in in his capacity as Undersecretary Of Commerce For Intellectual Property advising President Obama in matters concerning IP politics.

Good luck, Mr. Kappos.

And kudos to Mr Anthony Tripper for his Tweet.