PTO Director Notes Patent Quality, in First Int'l Speech as Part of Trump Administration

Director Michelle Lee highlighted Patent and Trademark Office work on its patent prosecution highway footprint in Latin America, during a Wednesday speech at the Trilateral Conference in Seville, Spain. PTO, the European Patent Office and Japan Patent Office jointly lead the Trilateral Co-operation, which oversees global filing of patents. PTO expanded the PPH program to Argentina in early March, more than a year after the program began in Brazil, Lee said. PTO hopes to extend the program, currently set to expire next year, and broaden “the scope of the arrangement,” Lee said in prepared remarks. She continued to tout PTO's work on improving patent quality via its Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative. The speech was Lee's first international appearance since the Department of Commerce and PTO confirmed earlier this month that Lee is still PTO director. Then-President Barack Obama nominated Lee to lead PTO in 2014.