Senate approves Trump’s nominee to head Patent Office

The Senate voted unanimously on Monday to confirm President Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Andrei Iancu.

{mosads}Iancu’s vote was met with no pushback from Democrats, even though some voiced opposition over another Trump tech nominee, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, last October.

Both Iancu’s confirmation hearing and a Senate Judiciary vote on his nomination last year went smoothly as well.

Iancu is an intellectual property lawyer at the firm Irell & Manella, which once defended Trump, Mark Burnett Productions and NBC Universal in a case involving copyright claims over the reality TV show “The Apprentice.”

At Irell & Manella, Iancu focused on intellectual property litigation but also delved into patent and trademark prosecution, due diligence and licensing. His work has led to settlements worth more than $1.6 billion being paid out to TiVo in patent cases against EchoStar, AT&T, Verizon, Microsoft, Motorola and Cisco.

The Patent Office has been without a permanent head since President Obama appointee Michelle Lee resigned last year after lobbying to stay in the role despite the administration change. Technology firms including Amazon, Facebook and Google, where Lee had previously worked, backed her bid to remain as chief of USPTO.