The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held an oversight hearing with USPTO Director John Squires, focusing on the agency's fee-setting practices and a recent rule change at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Lawmakers pressed for more information on the policy shifts implemented under Squires's leadership, according to an IPWatchdog report.
Separately, IPWatchdog's podcast featured Coke Morgan Stewart, a former acting director and deputy director of the USPTO, now president and CEO of the Council for Innovation Promotion. Stewart discussed the ongoing effort to fix America's patent system, framing the issues as part of a broader advocacy campaign rather than a single congressional review.
The two sources converge on the importance of fee-setting and PTAB rulemaking as flashpoints in current patent policy. They differ in emphasis: the hearing reflects legislative oversight of executive action, while the interview offers an insider's perspective on the political and advocacy battles surrounding those same decisions. Both, however, point to the same underlying tension over how the USPTO should exercise its authority.