Office of the General Counsel Bios

James Toupin received his A.B. degree with distinction from Stanford University in 1973, and his J.D. degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley, in 1977, where he was an editor of the law review. He is a member of the California and District of Columbia Bars.

Mr. Toupin began his professional career at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., specializing in intellectual property and unfair competition law and administrative agency litigation. In 1985-1987, he worked for the Washington office of the California law firm of Memel, Jacobs, Pierno, Gersh and Ellsworth, where he concentrated on international trademark registration and licensing.

In 1987, he was appointed Assistant General Counsel for Litigation of the United States International Trade Commission and subsequently to Deputy General Counsel. In those positions, he supervised defense of the Commission's actions in U.S. courts and international tribunals. The domestic court representation included defense of the Commission's determinations on patent and other intellectual property matters in the Federal Circuit and of the Commission's determinations in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations in the U.S. Court of International Trade and the Federal Circuit.

Mr. Toupin also assisted in the negotiations leading to the adoption of dispute settlement mechanisms in the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization Agreements, as well as in representation of the United States in proceedings in those fora. He has been a member of the Advisory Committee of the Court of International Trade, as well as of the judicial conference organizing committees of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Mr. Toupin became General Counsel of the United States Patent and Trademark Office in January 2001.

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William R. Covey is the Deputy General Counsel for General Law.  Mr. Covey provides legal counsel to the Under Secretary and represents the USPTO generally in matters other than those involving intellectual property issues. As the Deputy General Counsel for General Law at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Mr. Covey manages an office of nineteen people who provide advice and written legal opinion on areas concerning the administration and management of the USPTO.

Prior to joining the USPTO in 2000, Mr. Covey served at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia in the U.S. Army's Judge Advocate General's Corp in the Office of the General Counsel.  He continues to serve in reserve and is assigned as a Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mr. Covey received his undergraduate degree from Fordham University and earned his juris doctor degree from Fordham University Law School in 1991, he graduated from Harvard University 's JFK School of Government in 2005.  Mr. Covey was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2007 after completing the Department of Commerce's two-year Senior Executive Service Career Development Program.

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Judge Michael R. Fleming was appointed to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences as an Administrative Patent Judge on May 1, 1994. Judge Fleming’s has experience in dealing with ex parte appeals involving the electrical arts and interference proceedings.

Judge Fleming received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1978. He received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University with emphasis in computers in 1982. He received a Juris Doctor from George Mason University Law School in 1986. He was admitted to the Virginia State Bar in 1986.

Judge Fleming worked briefly as an electrical engineer at Naval Facilities Engineering Command and then joined the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent examiner in 1981. He received an Examiner’s Master rating in computer arts in 1984 and became a primary examiner with full signatory authority in 1985. He became a supervisory primary examiner in 1990 for Art Unit 2308 in the complex art area of computer processing using artificial intelligence.

Judge Fleming received the Norman P. Morgenstern Award and the Department of Commerce’s Bronze Medal. Judge Fleming was awarded the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for his participation in the creation of the Examination Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions, which provided major improvement in examining quality and consistency.

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Harry I. Moatz is the Director of Enrollment and Discipline. He is a graduate of the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. In the United State Patent and Trademark Office, he has served as a primary examiner in the patent examining corps, an Assistant Solicitor, and a Patent Attorney in the Office of Enrollment and Discipline. He assisted in drafting of the USPTO current Code of Professional Responsibility. He has reviewed and acted upon numerous complaints and information received from a wide variety of sources.

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J. David Sams is a member of the Senior Executive Service and serves as Chief Administrative Trademark Judge of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. As chief judge, he has management responsibility for trademark appeals, oppositions, and cancellation proceedings.

He joined the Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark examining attorney in 1975. From 1979 to 1981, he worked as chief legal assistant to the Assistant Commissioner for Trademarks.

Mr. Sams was appointed a member of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in 1981 and was appointed to the Senior Executive Service as Chairman of the TTAB in 1986. His title was changed to Chief Administrative Trademark Judge in 1993. In addition to his management responsibilities, Mr. Sams actively participates as a Board judge in deciding ex parte appeals and inter partes cases.

He is a frequent speaker on trademark law and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board practice and procedure.

Mr. Sams is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School and Davidson College.

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