Jonathan Ward "Jon" Dudas, born July 5, 1968, is the senior vice president, senior associate to the president and secretary of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. He previously served as Under Secretary of Commerce for

Intellectual Property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

and Director of the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

(USPTO) until January 18, 2009. He was nominated to the position by former President George W. Bush in March 2004 and appointed in July 2004. Dudas previously served as acting Under Secretary and Director, and Deputy Under Secretary and Deputy Director from 2002 to 2004. He is also a member of the board of directors of Conversant Intellectual Property Management.

Background and career

Dudas holds a bachelor of science in finance, summa cum laude, from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

and a J.D. degree from the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dis ...

, with honors. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar and the Bar of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois ar ...

. Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Dudas served six years as Counsel to the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, and Staff Director and Deputy General Counsel for the House Committee on the Judiciary, where he guided enactment of major

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

and

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

policy, including the 1999 American Inventors Protection Act, and the

Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...

. He was also instrumental in the passage of the 1996 Trademark Anti-Counterfeiting Consumer Protection Act, a law making it more difficult for seized counterfeit merchandise to re-enter the consumer marketplace. Before his employment with the House of Representatives, Dudas practiced law in the Chicago law firm of Neal Gerber & Eisenberg.

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property

As Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, Dudas was the lead policy advisor to the Secretary of Commerce, the President of the United States, and Administration agencies on intellectual property matters. Focusing on enhanced intellectual property (IP) protection for large corporations in 2006 Dudas had USPTO IP personnel placed in several high-profile countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, India, and Thailand.

Director of the USPTO

As director of the USPTO, Dudas was responsible for administering the laws relevant to granting patents and trademarks, and the day-to-day management of the agency's $1.7 billion budget and over 8,000 employees. However, he met the balance of requirements under US law and was appointed on advice and consent of the Senate. He has increased the hiring rate of examiners and increased the amount of monies the PTO retains.

After the PTO

Dudas was a partner at the Washington D.C. office of the law firm Foley & Lardner LLP after leaving the USPTO. In June 2010, Dudas was selected to be the President of FIRST.

FIRST

On 14 June 2010, Dudas was announced as the new president of FIRST, effective 5 July 2010. On November 26, 2012, Dudas resigned from his position as FIRST president.

University of Arizona administrator

On June 3, 2014 the

announced Dudas as the senior associate to the president and secretary of the university where he continues to serve as the senior vice president and secretary.

Quotes

References

External links

Biography on the USPTO web site

Previous biography on the USPTO web site
(archive.org)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudas, Jonathan Ward Lawyers from Chicago University of Chicago Law School alumni Lawyers who have represented the United States government Gies College of Business alumni Under Secretaries of Commerce for Intellectual Property Living people George W. Bush administration personnel Illinois Republicans 1968 births