Pappas Sworn in as ITC Commissioner

Peter-Anthony Pappas, the former Director of Intellectual Property Policy for the U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, was sworn in yesterday as a Member of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) by ITC Chairman, Brett Doyle.

Pappas was nominated by President Donald Trump in June to join the ITC for a term expiring June 16, 2035.

Pappas previously served as Director of Intellectual Property Policy for the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who gave remarks during yesterday’s ceremony. Tillis is presently the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property (IP) but will be retiring after this year.

During a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee to consider Pappas’ and other nominations, Tillis 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 [and in the Senate]….has given him valuable technical expertise.”

Prior to his role with the Senate, Pappas 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.