United States Department of Commerce
Executive department of the U.S. Federal Government
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| February 2024 | USPTO issued new guideline stating that only a human, not AI, can be named as an inventor on a patent, following a recommendation by the Biden administration. |
| 2023 | Department of Commerce took lead in coordinating U.S. government activities related to safe artificial intelligence development. |
| 2022 | Department of Commerce renewed its mission statement with a strategic plan covering 2022-2026, outlining key responsibilities across its major operating units. |
| December 16 2022 | Kathi Vidal announced Vaishali Udupa as the new commissioner for patents, effective January 17, 2023. |
| April 13 2022 | Kathi Vidal was sworn in as USPTO director. |
| 2021 | Gina Raimondo becomes Secretary of Commerce during Joe Biden's administration. |
| October 2021 | President Joe Biden nominated attorney Kathi Vidal to serve as the USPTO director. |
| 2020 | The Department of Commerce suffered a data breach following a cyberattack likely conducted by a nation state adversary, possibly Russia. |
| October 2020 | BGI Group was again named in an alleged exploitation of medical samples from Covid-19 patients in Nevada, using 200,000 rapid testing kits donated by the United Arab Emirates. |
| August 2020 | The USPTO experienced the highest month of trademark filings in its history. |
| July 2020 | Trademark application filings increased to exceed the previous year's numbers. |
| July 20 2020 | The Commerce Department added eleven Chinese firms to an export blacklist for human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims, including two BGI Group subsidiaries, after conducting genetic analysis on ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. |
| March 2020 | COVID-19 lockdowns initially led to reduced trademark application filings during the spring. |
| 2018 | The USPTO received a record 458,103 new trademark applications, demonstrating continued expansion in trademark registrations. |
| June 19 2018 | 10 millionth U.S. patent issued to Joseph Marron for a Coherent LADAR System, signed by President Donald Trump in a special Oval Office ceremony. |
| 2017 | Wilbur Ross becomes Secretary of Commerce during Donald Trump's presidency. |
| 2017 | One in every nine trademark applications reviewed by the U.S. Trademark Office originated in China. |
| 2015 | USPTO opened its Silicon Valley satellite office located in San Jose City Hall, after previously being put on hold due to budget sequestration. |
| 2014 | Trademark applications increased to 345,000 new applications, showing continued growth in trademark registrations. |
| 2013 | Penny Pritzker serves as Secretary of Commerce under President Barack Obama. |
| 2013 | Trademark applications from China began a significant growth trajectory, which would lead to a more than 12-fold increase by 2017. |
| 2012 | The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched an internal investigation into allegations of fraud by employees exploiting the agency's remote work policies. Investigators found that some patent examiners had misrepresented their working hours, but high-level officials obstructed access to computer records, which limited the potential disciplinary actions against fraudulent employees. |
| December 2012 | Data revealed 597,579 unexamined patent applications in the backlog, though a more than 50% reduction had been achieved since 2009. |
| July 13 2012 | USPTO opened its first satellite office in Detroit to reduce patent application backlog and reflect regional industrial strengths. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles United States Secretary of Commerce, United States Patent and Trademark Office & United States Department of Commerce, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.