Trump Nominates Peter-Anthony Pappas to ITC

Peter-Anthony Pappas, Director of Intellectual Property Policy for the U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, has been nominated by President Donald Trump to be a Member of the United States International Trade Commission for the remainder of the term expiring June 16, 2026, followed by a term expiring June 16, 2035.

Pappas serves as Director of Intellectual Property Policy for the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is presently the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property (IP) but will be retiring after this year. Pappas previously served as a Professional Staff Member Detailee for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary under Senator Tillis; and as Special Advisor Detailee to Andrei Iancu, then-Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where he helped to advise Iancu on IP, artificial intelligence (AI) and agency operations.

Pappas helped to develop the 2019 “Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance” (PEG) for which Iancu has been lauded by the IP community. He also helped establish the USPTO’s first working group on AI and IP and helped develop a framework for the Office using AI to assist with prior art search during examination. He has also served as Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Branch Chief Detailee, Supervisory Patent Examiner, Primary Patent Examiner, and as a Patent Examiner.

Pappas recently took part in the USPTO’s PTAB Listening Session on the PTAB and Life Sciences, where he told attendees that “allegations regarding so-called ‘patent thickets’ and ‘evergreening’…have invariably been based on misleading data that has been thoroughly debunked; yet, such unreliable data has continued to be cited and this has harmfully influenced the policy debate surrounding drug pricing.”

Pappas also has been championing bills like the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) and the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act as part of his role with Tillis, and told IPWatchdog Life Sciences Masters Panelists last year that recent action by the USPTO to make agency-level reforms to the patent system only bolsters the need for legislation, since policy at the agency level changes so often depending on changes in administration and Commerce Department/ USPTO staff.

Commenting on the nomination, Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP) Executive Director Frank Cullen said Pappas’ “rare combination of patent expertise and public service experience …makes him exceptionally well-qualified for this role.” The statement added: “As a nominee to the Commission with firsthand patent examination experience, Peter-Anthony brings a unique perspective that will strengthen the Commission’s ability to support the U.S. innovation ecosystem.”

Trump also nominated Bartholomew Thanhauser and Samuel Negatu, both of whom have served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), to be ITC Commissioners.