Michelle Lee expected to “hit the ground running” as USPTO director

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Michelle Lee expected to “hit the ground running” as USPTO director

AIPLA has welcomed the nomination of Michelle Lee to serve as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO

michelle20lee20uspto150.jpg

Wayne Sobon, president of the Association, congratulated Lee. “She will hit the ground running as she faces the multitude of challenges in this role, and we are confident that she will achieve significant and speedy success,” he said in a statement. “At this critical time for the Office and in the IP world generally, filling this important position is long past due.”

“As fellow residents of Silicon Valley who’ve known each other throughout our careers, and in particular as fellow members on the USPTO’s Patent Public Advisory Committee, I appreciate Michelle’s many talents and I am confident that we will be able to work effectively and collaboratively with her in tackling the significant issues ahead.”

Lee has served as Deputy Director of the USPTO since December 2013, and is a former Deputy General Counsel at Google.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Deborah Kirk discusses why IP and technology have become central pillars in transactions and explains why clients need practically minded lawyers
IP STARS, Managing IP’s accreditation title, reveals its latest rankings for patent work, including which firms are moving up
Leaders at US law firms explain what attorneys can learn from AI cases involving Meta and Anthropic, and why the outcomes could guide litigation strategies
Attorneys reveal the trademark and copyright trends they’ve noticed within the first half of 2025
Senior leaders at TE Connectivity and Clarivate explain how they see the future of innovation
A new action filed by Nokia against Asus and a landmark ruling on counterfeits by South Africa’s Supreme Court were also among the top talking points
Counsel explain how they’re navigating patent prosecution matters and highlight key takeaways from Federal Circuit cases
A partner who joined Fenwick alongside two others explains what drew her to the firm and her hopes for growth in Boston
The England and Wales High Court has granted Kirkland & Ellis client Samsung interim declaratory relief in its ongoing FRAND dispute with ZTE
A UDRP decision that found in favour of a small business in a domain name dispute could encourage more businesses to take a stand in ‘David v Goliath’ cases
Gift this article