Derrick Brent, USPTO's newly appointed Deputy Director, will take office on August 1, 2022.
After taking office, Brent will serve as Chief Advisor to Director Vidal. His responsibilities include working with Director Vidal to lead the USPTO, advance intellectual property policies and procedures, expand USPTO's outreach efforts, and stimulate and support more innovation and innovation across the country. Start a business and execute the agency's policies, priorities and programs.
Newly appointed Deputy Director Brent served as chief counsel to a Senator for six years, covering a wide range of matters including intellectual property and constitutional issues, civil rights, telecommunications and judicial nominations. During his tenure in the Senate, Brent was considered one of the most knowledgeable advisors on intellectual property and was an authority on the America Invents Act of 2011 and other influential legislative initiatives.
He also clerked for Chief Judge Algenon L. Marbley of the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Earlier in his career, he worked at the Ohio law firm Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, and he subsequently spent six years as an attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he received a Special Achievement Award.
Before joining the USPTO, he worked for Cut Golf, providing company founders with various intellectual property operations and strategic analysis, as well as advice on risk avoidance, including intellectual property rights, contracts, marketing/advertising, business development, design/performance analysis and Supply chain management has brought continuous sales increment and customer growth to the company.
Before becoming an attorney, Brent worked as an engineer for General Motors' powertrain division. Responsible for product design, new product validation, production process and improvements, testing, inventory and budgeting. He designed and implemented a warranty tracking system that helped significantly improve quality and production.
CV:
BS in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University;
Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law (now Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law).