USPTO Director John Squires has postponed the anniversary celebration originally scheduled for Tuesday, September 29. Invitees were told via a message from squirescelebration@gmail.com, signed simply "John," that his schedule "isn't cooperating" with the planned event.
The use of a personal Gmail account to communicate about an official agency event has drawn scrutiny. The IPWatchdog report notes that the email account raises new records questions, likely referring to federal record-keeping requirements for official business communications.
As of the report, no new date for the celebration has been announced, and it remains unclear whether the Gmail account was used for other official correspondence. The source is a single report, so no independent confirmation or differing accounts are available.