Amy Cotton is the Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Examination Policy. In this role, Ms. Cotton oversees the Legal Policy Office, the Petitions Office, and ID Class, as well as the Trademark Assistance Center, the Office of Trademark Quality Review and Training, the Trademark Law Library, Customer Experience, and Trademark Outreach.
Ms. Cotton joined the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 1998 as a trademark examining attorney. She moved to the Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA) in 2001, where she served as the Senior Counsel for Trademarks from 2003 to 2021, providing domestic and international policy advice to the USPTO and U.S. government agencies and technical assistance to global trademark offices. For nearly 20 years, Ms. Cotton led the U.S. delegation to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on trademark matters, including negotiations to conclude the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks and the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications. Prior to joining the USPTO, Ms. Cotton served as external affairs counsel at the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
A member of the Virginia Bar, Ms. Cotton received her Juris Doctor from Indiana University Bloomington and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia.