Anne Mendez Named Acting USPTO Deputy Director Following Stewart’s Departure

Current U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Chief Administrative Officer Anne Mendez has reportedly been appointed Acting Deputy Director of the USPTO, following Coke Morgan Stewart’s announcement this week that she will be leaving her post early.

As Chief Administrative Officer, Mendez heads up all “administrative service support functions” for the Office, which includes “human capital strategy, human resource management, telework policy and programs, facilities management, safety and security, transportation, and asset and records management.”

Mendez was at the helm during the highly controversial April 14, 2025 “Notice for Return to Office of Probationary Patent Examiners,” which was sent to probationary patent and trademark examiners and informed them that all “probationary Patent Examiners . . . who live within 50 miles will be directed to report to the USPTO headquarters . . . for one-year.”

Mendez joined the USPTO in 1991 as a Human Resources Assistant in staffing and recruiting and has served in various roles since then. She was promoted to Deputy Chief Administrative Officer in 2020 before becoming first Acting Chief Administrative Officer and then Chief Administrative Officer.

According to Bloomberg News, she will step into the Acting Deputy Director role as of Sunday, August 2.

Stewart announced her departure on Monday, when she sent an email to executive staff indicating that she had informed Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and USPTO Director John Squires of her intention to leave the Office by the end of this week.

Stewart was named Acting USPTO Director by President Donald Trump and sworn in on January 20, 2025. She has been credited with taking quick action as Acting Director to attack the significant backlog she inherited and to enact patent-friendly policies at the USPTO, but has also been criticized for her policies’ impact on examiner morale.