| Executive Biographies > Commissioner for Trademarks and Acting Deputy Commissioner of Trademark Operations |
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Lynne G. Beresford is the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Commissioner for Trademarks. Ms. Beresford leads USPTO Trademark Examining Attorneys, who make eligibility determinations and grant trademark registrations.
Ms. Beresford joined the USPTO as a Trademark Examining Attorney in 1979. She then held a variety of positions with increasing responsibility. She also served as President of the Trademark Office Society (now NTEU 245), the union representing Examining Attorneys in 1984, and the Chief Negotiator for the union in 1985.
In 1995, Ms. Beresford joined the Office of Legislation and International Affairs, where her portfolio included trademarks, geographical indications, and domain names. She chaired every meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO's) Standing Committee on Trademarks, Industrial Designs, and Geographical Indications from its inception in 1997 until late 2001.
Ms. Beresford holds a juris doctor from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and is licensed to practice in the State of Pennsylvania.
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Since 1790, the basic role of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution). Today, the USPTO is a federal agency in the Department of Commerce, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. Through the issuance of patents, the USPTO encourages technological advancement by providing incentives to invent, invest in, and disclose new technology worldwide. Through the registration of trademarks, the agency assists businesses in protecting their investments, promoting goods and services, and safeguarding consumers against confusion and deception in the marketplace. By disseminating both patent and trademark information, the USPTO promotes an understanding of intellectual property protection and facilitates the development and sharing of new technologies worldwide.
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