Office of the General Counsel (OGC)
The Office of the General Counsel (OGC), which has approximately
250 employees, consists of five organizations that are concerned
with legal review of agency decisions, defense of agency decisions
in court and administrative tribunals, internal agency legal advice,
and regulation of persons practicing before the USPTO.These five
organizations are the Office
of the Solicitor, the Office of General
Law, the Board of Patent Appeals
and Interferences (BPAI), the Trademark
Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and the Office
of Enrollment and Discipline (OED).
The OGC is headed by a General Counsel, who is responsible
for overall management of the division and acts as the Under Secretary
and Director’s principal legal advisor in assuring the provision
of legal advice and representation for the agency. The General Counsel
has also been delegated authority to hear appeals from decisions
in enrollment and discipline matters, and to determine whether special
circumstances exist pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 122 for releasing
information concerning patent applications. The General Counsel
is James Toupin. |