PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Jennifer Rankin Byrne or Ruth Nyblod Phone: (571) 272-8400 or jennifer.rankin_byrne@uspto.gov Ruth.Nyblod@uspto.gov	November 18, 2008 #08-43
COMMERCE SECRETARY GUTIERREZ NAMES NEW MEMBERS TO PATENT AND TRADEMARK PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEES Washington, D.C. - U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez recently named three new members to the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) and three to the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC). They will serve three-year terms on the committees, which were created by the 1999 American Inventors Protection Act to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on the management of patent and trademark operations, respectively, including goals, performance, budget and user fees. The committees have nine voting members who are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Secretary of Commerce. The new PPAC members are: Marc S. Adler is the founder of a private intellectual property strategy consulting practice (Marc Adler LLC). For the past 26 years Mr. Adler worked for Rohm and Haas Company, headquarted in Philadelphia, and since 1993 served as the firm’s Chief Intellectual Property Counsel and Associate General Counsel. He has extensive experience in patent preparation and prosecution, intellectual property strategies, and licensing and litigation. He is the immediate past President of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel (ACPC). He is currently a Board member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the IP Advisory Boards of Lexis/Nexis and Franklin Pierce School of Law. He is a registered patent attorney and member of the bar of the state of New York. Stephen M. Pinkos is a Senior Advisor with PCT Government Relations, LLC – a firm that provides a full spectrum of bi-partisan, federal, state and international public policy advisory services related to intellectual property. Mr. Pinkos previously managed the daily operations of the USPTO as the Deputy Under Secretary and Deputy Director. In this capacity, he initiated and supervised restructuring of the Chief Financial, Information and Administration Offices; played an integral role in launching the largest-ever USPTO hiring, training and retention effort; and supervised critical quality control, pendency reduction and IT initiatives. He also was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Bush Administration's STOP! (Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy) program. Prior to the USPTO, Mr. Pinkos served as Staff Director and Deputy General Counsel for the House Committee on the Judiciary. Maureen K. Toohey is the founding member of Toohey Law Group LLC in Boston, Massachusetts. She counsels clients regarding the strategic protection and transfer of intellectual property rights, prosecutes patent portfolios, and litigates intellectual property disputes for start-up companies in the medical device, biotechnology, clean technology, and internet fields. Ms. Toohey is a registered patent attorney and practices in California, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. She was previously a law clerk to U.S. Federal Circuit Judge Randall R. Rader. She is affiliated with a number of IP organizations such as the Federal Circuit Bar Association, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the ABA Section of IP Law. The new TPAC members are: Makan Delrahim is a shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and is a member of the Litigation and Government Relations groups. Mr. Delrahim’s law firm focuses on antitrust, public policy, intellectual property and international trade. He previously served as a member of the U.S. Attorney General’s Task Force on Intellectual Property. Mr. Delrahim is a frequent commentator and author on competition law and intellectual property issues. He previously served as staff director and chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee working as legal and policy advisor for then-Chairman Orrin G. Hatch(R-UT). Mr. Delrahim is experienced in class action litigation and patent law reform, copyright legislation as well as the USA Patriot Act. Mary Boney Denison is a founding partner of Manelli Denison & Selter PLLC in Washington, D.C. Her practice focuses on trademark prosecution and litigation. Ms. Denison was selected as a “Washington DC Super Lawyer 2007,” placing her in the top five percent of Washington, D.C. area lawyers. Her law firm advises clients on strategic international intellectual property decisions; trade secret and trademark litigation (common law and registered marks); trademark cancellation and opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She has been a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) for many years and has served on its board of directors. She currently serves as Chair of the USPTO subcommittee for INTA. Timothy J. Lockhart is Partner in Charge, Intellectual Property Group, Willcox & Savage P.C. in Norfolk, VA. He supervises a group of lawyers and staff personnel in counseling clients on copyrights, patents, trade secrets, and trademarks, including registration, enforcement, licensing, and litigation. Mr. Lockhart is a member, Board of Directors, Hampton Roads Technology Council, and a member, Bulletin Committee, International Trademark Association. He teaches Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses on intellectual property law. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the District of Columbia Bar and retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve with the rank of Captain. ###