Judge Susan G. Braden, who rejoined Washington Legal Foundation’s volunteer Legal Policy Advisory Board in 2019 after retiring from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has been appointed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC). Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross invited Judge Braden to serve a three-year term on the PPAC on November 30, 2020.
The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 created the PPAC to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office. The PPAC’s 2020 Annual Report explains its critical role further:
The PPAC consists of citizens of the United States chosen to represent the interests of the diverse users of USPTO services, typically people who interact with the USPTO through being inventors or patent practitioners. In accordance with the AIA, the PPAC reviews and advises the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO (the Director) on the management of the Office’s patent-related operations, including policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees.
The PPAC will significantly benefit from Judge Braden’s experience in private practice and her 16 years on the federal bench. While serving on the Court of Federal Claims, she was named to the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Judge’s Special Committee and Chair of the Court’s Advisory Council’s Intellectual Property Committee to draft the court’s new Patent Rules.