Former Winston & Strawn litigator To Lead The US Patent & Trademark Office

The US Senate confirmed former Winston & Strawn partner Kathi Vidal as director of the US Patent and Trademark Office in a voice vote Tuesday night.

She will lead the office at a time when the question of what can be patented is under close scrutiny, and is poised to wield more power than past PTO directors on patent policy.

Patent attorneys have called Vidal, who led Winston & Strawn’s Silicon Valley office, “eminently qualified” for the role. In private practice she represented tech companies including Microsoft, Tesla, Intel, Dell and Spotify.

Her nomination by President Joe Biden received bipartisan support from the Senate Judiciary committee earlier this year.

Vidal will have more power over patent decisions than previous PTO heads, following a US Supreme Court ruling last year that gave the director authority to review patent-eligibility rulings from the office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Previous PTO director Andrei Iancu was known for policies seen as favoring patent owners compared to Obama’s PTO director Michelle Lee, and an internal policy during his tenure reduced the number of patents that the board invalidated.

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