On November 13, 2020, Dom Conde was quoted in Law.com’s Skilled in the Art newsletter on the possible impact of President-elect Joe Biden’s administration on patent law.
According to the article, Biden’s transition team recently announced that Colleen Chien is among the volunteers helping organize the Commerce Department, which oversees the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Chien served in the Obama White House as a senior adviser on IP and innovation. Much of Chien's scholarship has focused on measuring the impact of “patent trolls” on the economy. At the very least Chien's presence augurs a shift from the current PTO leadership, which has condemned the “patent troll” narrative as Orwellian and anti-American, but how much of a shift remains to be seen. “I think a lot depends on who ends up being the head of the Patent Office,” Conde said.
Conde also noted that China recently overhauled its patent laws for pharmaceuticals. Conde said he'll be interested to see if a Biden administration continues negotiating with China for more harmony between the countries' IP laws. “That's an area where the executive branch could have a lot of impact immediately,” he said.