Senate Finance Committee Hears from ITC Nominees

The United States Senate Committee on Finance today held a hearing to consider the nominations of five individuals to be Commissioners of the International Trade Commission (ITC). Two of the nominees—Peter-Anthony Pappas (R) and David Foley (R)—have played key roles in IP policy on the Hill over the last several years.

Introducing Pappas was Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), under whom Pappas presently serves as   Director of Intellectual Property Policy for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Tillis Chairs the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property (IP). Tillis told the Committee that Pappas’ “depth of experience”, subject matter expertise and ability to work across the aisle make him an ideal candidate for the ITC.

Tillis also submitted 34 letters of support from IP organizations on Pappas’ behalf.  One of those organizations, the Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP), told the Committee that Pappas’ “experience at the USPTO — as a Patent Examiner, Primary Patent Examiner, Supervisory Patent Examiner, Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Branch Chief Detailee, Special Advisor Detailee to Andrei Iancu, then-Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and subsequently as a Professional Staff Member Detailee to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and then Director of Intellectual Property Policy for U.S. Senator Thom Tillis — has given him valuable technical expertise.”

Pappas also 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.

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.”

Speaking for Foley, who serves as Issa’s Chief Counsel in the House Judiciary Committee Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Subcommittee, Issa said he “would love to have [Foley] running the PTO,” but that he is particularly suited to the bipartisan, nonpartisan role with the ITC. “In his role as special counsel, and now as chief, he has proven to be particularly effective when working across the aisle on complex intellectual property work,” Issa said.

The other nominees include Bartholomew Thanhauser; Samuel Negatu; and Brett Doyle; all of whom have served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

The ITC has had three vacancies for several years, and two sitting commissioners whose terms have expired. Confirmation of the nominees would mean all of the ITC Commissioner slots would be filled.