Patent Office Chief Delegates Discretionary Authority to Deputy

John Squires, the newly-confirmed director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, officially delegated the director’s discretionary authority to deny patent validity challenges to his deputy, Coke Morgan Stewart.

A week after being sworn in, Squires signed a delegation of authority Sept. 25 authorizing Stewart to exercise his discretion on the institution of patent validity challenges before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board as outlined in a March memo. The interim memo, issued under Stewart while she served as the agency’s acting director, bifurcated the institution process, allowing the agency head to grant or deny the challenge under certain ...