Dan Vavonese is the Acting Commissioner for Trademarks at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Acting Commissioner serves as the primary agency official for trademarks, domestically and internationally, and is responsible for all aspects of the Trademarks organization, including policy, petitions, operations, register protection, and administration relating to trademark examination, registration, and maintenance.
Prior to becoming the Acting Commissioner for Trademarks, Mr. Vavonese served as the Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Operations from January 2021 to March 2025. He was responsible for leading the Trademark Law Offices and Trademark Services in all aspects of trademark examination, registration, and maintenance. He championed numerous initiatives to streamline and improve efficiency in examination, most notably the Trademark pendency reduction plan which resulted in a two-month decrease in pendency in 2024. He played a key role in the development and implementation of numerous rule and policy changes in Trademark examination.
Mr. Vavonese first joined the USPTO as a Trademark examining attorney in 1995. In 2000, he was promoted to management within the law offices, and in that capacity, he served as a senior attorney and managing attorney. He joined the executive team as Group Director of the Trademark Law Offices in 2015. Mr. Vavonese also served as the Business Architect for Trademarks, where he prioritized and planned for updates to IT systems and business processes.
Mr. Vavonese received his Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law and his Bachelor of Science in biology from the State University of New York at Geneseo.