List of people who have headed the United States Patent Office

Following is a list of persons who have headed the United States Patent Office. The title associated with this function has changed over time, from Superintendent of Patents to Commissioner of Patents to Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. The duties of the office have also evolved significantly, including coming to encompass the supervision of trademark issuance as well as that of patents.

Patent Office Head^[1]		Began service	Ended service
Commissioners for the Promotion of Useful Arts or Patent Board^[2]
	Edmund Randolph Henry Knox Thomas Jefferson	1790	1793
Secretary of State^[3]^[2]
	Edmund Randolph	1794	1795
	Timothy Pickering	1795	May 12, 1800
	John Marshall	May 13, 1800	March 4, 1801
	James Madison	March 5, 1801	1802
Superintendent of Patents^[4]^[2]
	William Thornton	June 1, 1802	March 28, 1828
	Thomas P. Jones	April 12, 1828	June 10, 1829
	John D. Craig	June 11, 1829	February 1, 1835
	James Chamberlayne Pickett	February 1, 1835	May 1835
Commissioner of Patents (Patent Act of July 4, 1836)^[4]
	Henry L. Ellsworth	July 8, 1835	April 1, 1845^[5]
	Edmund Burke	May 4, 1845	1849
	Thomas Ewbank	May 9, 1849	1852
	Silas H. Hodges	November 8, 1852	1853
	Charles Mason	May 16, 1853	August 5, 1857
	Joseph Holt	September 10, 1857	Mar 1859
	William Darius Bishop	May 27, 1859	1860
	Philip F. Thomas	February 16, 1860	December 10, 1860
	David P. Holloway	March 28, 1861	1865
	Thomas Clarke Theaker	August 17, 1865	January 20, 1868
	Elisha Foote	July 29, 1868	Mar 1869
	Samuel S. Fisher	April 26, 1869	November 10, 1870
	Mortimer D. Leggett	January 16, 1871	1874
	John M. Thacher	November 4, 1874	October 1, 1875
	Robert Holland Duell	October 1, 1875	1877
	Ellis Spear	January 30, 1877	1878
	Halbert Eleazer Paine	November 1, 1878	1880
	Edgar M. Marble	May 7, 1880	1883
	Benjamin Butterworth	November 1, 1883	1885
	Martin Van Buren Montgomery	March 23, 1885	1887
	Benton Jay Hall	April 12, 1887	1889
	Charles Elliott Mitchell	April 1, 1889	1891
	William E. Simonds	August 1, 1891	1892
	John S. Seymour	March 31, 1893	1897
	Benjamin Butterworth	April 7, 1897	1898
	Charles Holland Duell	February 3, 1898	1901
	Frederick Innes Allen	April 11, 1901	1907
	Edward Bruce Moore	1907	1913
	Thomas Ewing	1913	1917
	James T. Newton	1917	1920
	Robert Frederick Whitehead	1920	1921
	Melvin H. Coulston	1921	1921
	Thomas E. Robertson	1921	1933
	Conway Peyton Coe	1933	September 14, 1945
	Casper W. Ooms	September 15, 1945	1947
	Lawrence C. Kingsland	1947	1949
	John A. Marzall	1949	1953
	Robert C. Watson	1953	1961
	David Lowell Ladd	1961	1963
	Edward J. Brenner	1964	1969
	William E. Schuyler, Jr.	1969	1971
	Robert Gottschalk	1972	1973
Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks (PL 93-596 of January 2, 1975)^[4]
	C. Marshall Dann	1974	1977
	Donald W. Banner	1978	1979
	Sidney A. Diamond	1979	1981
Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks (Public Law 97-366 of October 25, 1982)^[4]
	Gerald J. Mossinghoff	1981	1985
	Donald J. Quigg	1985	1990
	Harry F. Manbeck, Jr.	1990	1992
	Bruce A. Lehman	August 5, 1993	1998
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (American Inventor’s Protection Act of November 29, 1999)^[4]
	Q. Todd Dickinson	1998	January 19, 2001
	Nicholas P. Godici (acting)	January 2001	November 30, 2001^[4]
	James E. Rogan	December 10, 2001	January 9, 2004
	Jon Dudas	2004	November 14, 2008^[4]
	John J. Doll (acting)	November 15, 2008	August 12, 2009^[4]
	David Kappos	August 13, 2009	January 31, 2013
	Teresa Stanek Rea (acting)	February 1, 2013	January 12, 2014
	Michelle K. Lee	January 13, 2014	June 7, 2017
	Joseph Matal (acting)	June 7, 2017	February 8, 2018^[4]
	Andrei Iancu	February 8, 2018^[6]	January 19, 2021^[7]
	Drew Hirshfeld (performing the duties of Director)	January 19, 2021	April 13, 2022
	Kathi Vidal	April 13, 2022	Present

Note:
^a Dickinson served in analogous role as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks beginning in 1998. That position was transformed into the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office effective January 17, 2001.

References

^ "Past USPTO Leaders". U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dobyns, Kenneth (1994). The Patent Office Pony: A History of the Early Patent Offices. Fredericksburg, VA: Seargeant Kirkland's Press. p. 23-24. ISBN 1887901132.
^ Patent Act of 1793 transferred responsibility for patents to the Secretary of State
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Directors of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office". August 29, 2014.
^ Title of office changed from Superintendent to Commissioner on July 4, 1836.
^ Fucito, Paul (February 8, 2018). "Andrei Iancu Begins Role as New Director of United States Patent and Trademark Office". U.S Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
^ "Director Andrei Iancu has stepped-down as PTO Director". Patently-O. Retrieved March 1, 2021.

[Past_USPTO_Leaders-1] "Past USPTO Leaders". U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved February 10, 2018.

[pony-2] Dobyns, Kenneth (1994). The Patent Office Pony: A History of the Early Patent Offices. Fredericksburg, VA: Seargeant Kirkland's Press. p. 23-24. ISBN 1887901132.

[3] Patent Act of 1793 transferred responsibility for patents to the Secretary of State

[patlib-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Directors of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office". August 29, 2014.

[5] Title of office changed from Superintendent to Commissioner on July 4, 1836.

[6] Fucito, Paul (February 8, 2018). "Andrei Iancu Begins Role as New Director of United States Patent and Trademark Office". U.S Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved February 9, 2018.

[7] "Director Andrei Iancu has stepped-down as PTO Director". Patently-O. Retrieved March 1, 2021.

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See also

References