Past leaders of the USPTO

William Thornton

1802-1828

Biography of William Thornton, the first head of the USPTO.

Thomas P. Jones

1828-1829

Thomas P. Jones was the second head of the USPTO from 1818-1829

John D. Craig

1829-1835

Bio of John D. Craig, third head of Patent Office

James C. Pickett

1835

Bio of James C. Pickett, fourth head of Patent Office.

Henry L. Ellsworth

1835-1845

Bio of Henry L. Ellsworth, fifth head of the Patent Office

Edmond Burke

1845-1849

Biograph of Edmond Burke, the sixth head of the U.S. Patent Office

Thomas Ewbank

1849-1852

Biography of Thomas Ewbank, head of the U.S. Patent office from 1849-1852

Silas Henry Hodges

1852-1853

Biograph of Silas Henry Hodges, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1852-1853

Charles Mason

1853-1857

Biography of Charles Mason, head of U.S. Patent Office from 1853-1857

Joseph Holt

1857-1859

Biography of Joseph Holt, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1857-1859

William Darius Bishop

1859-1860

Biography of William Darius Bishop, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1859-1860.

Philip Francis Thomas

1860

Biography of Philip Francis Thomas, head of the U.S. Patent Office in 1860

David P. Holloway

1861-1865

Biography of David P. Holloway, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1861-1865.

Thomas C. Theaker

1865-1868

Biography of Thomas C. Theaker, head of U.S. Patent Office from 1865-1868

Elisha Foote

1868-1869

Biography of Elisha Foote, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1868-1869

Samuel Sparks Fisher

1869-1870

Biography of Samuel Sparks Fisher, head of U.S. Patent Office from 1869-1870

Mortimer D. Leggett

1871-1874

Biography of Mortimer D. Leggett, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1871-1874

John Marshall Thacher

1874-1875

Biography of John Marshall Thacher, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1874-1875

Robert Holland Duell

1875-1876

Biography of Robert Holland Duell, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1875-1876

Ellis Spear

1877-1878

Biography of Ellis Spear, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1877-1878

Halbert Eleazer Paine

1878-1880

Biography of Halbert Eleazer Paine, head of U.S. Patent Office from 1878-1880

Edgar M. Marble

1880-1883

Biography of Edgar Marble, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1880-1883

Benjamin Butterworth

1883-1885 and 1897-1898

Biography of Benjamin Butterworth, head of the U.S. Patent Office from 1883-1885 and 1897-1898

Martin V. B. Montgomery

1885-1887

Biography of Martin Montgomery, head of U.S. Patent office from 1885-1887

Benton J. Hall

1887-1889

Biography of Benton Hall, head of U.S. Patent Office from 1887-1889

Charles Elliott Mitchell

1889-1891

Born May 11, 1837, at Bristol, Connecticut, Charles Elliott Mitchell was of ancestry prominent in the history of New England, being descended on his father's side from...

William Edgar Simonds

1891-1893

Biography of William Edgar Simonds, commissioner of patents from 1891 to 1893.

John S. Seymour

1893-1897

John Seymour [was born on September 28, 1848, and] came from Colonial stock, his earliest ancestors in this country being found among the first settlers of Hartford...

Charles Holland Duell

1898-1901

Charles Holland Duell, twenty-fifth Commissioner of Patents, was the illustrious son of Robert Holland Duell, the fifteenth Commissioner of Patents. Charles was born in...

Frederick Innes Allen

1901-1907

Born at Auburn, New York, January 19, 1859, Frederick Innes Allen came from a prominent family of that city. Graduating from Yale in 1879, he received a class prize in...

Edward Bruce Moore

1907-1913

Edward Bruce Moore was born at North Anson, Maine, December 25, 1851. At the age of fourteen he came to Washington, serving as a page in the Senate. In 1876 he became...

Thomas Ewing

1913-1917

The name Ewing has been connected with public life and governmental functions over a considerable period of years. Thomas Ewing, Commissioner Ewing's grandfather, was the...

James T. Newton

1917-1920

The chaotic condition of the rest of the world was reflected in the affairs of the Patent Office at the time when Mr. Newton became Commissioner. The personnel seemed to...

Robert Frederick Whitehead

1920-1921

The son of a successful farmer and lawyer, Mr. Whitehead was born February 28, 1869, near Lovingston, Virginia. He attended the public schools and the University of...

Melvin H. Coulston

1921

Mr. Coulston’s short term of office is evidence, not of his unfitness for the position, but of a peculiarity of our political system. He was confirmed by the Senate on...

Thomas E. Robertson

1921-1933

Following Mr. Coulston's term of office, which was the shortest on record, comes Mr. Robertson's, which was the longest [Note: While Mr. Robertson had the longest term as...

Conway P. Coe

1933-1945

Conway P. Coe was born in Calvert County, Maryland, on October 21, 1897, and moved to the Washington, D.C., area at an early age. After receiving a B.A. from Randolph...

Casper W. Ooms

1945-1947

Caspar W. Ooms was born on August 30, 1902, in Chicago. He attended Knox College and the University of Chicago School of Commerce and Administration. He received a law...

Lawrence C. Kingsland

1947-1949

Lawrence C. Kingsland was born in St. Louis on April 11, 1884. He attended Washington University in St. Louis and received a degree from Washington University School of...

John A. Marzall

1949-1953

John A. Marzall was born on March 8, 1896, in Chicago and practiced law there after living in New York. President Harry Truman appointed him commissioner of patents, and...

Robert C. Watson

1953-1961

Robert C. Watson was born in Washington, D.C., on November 21, 1890. His father was a patent attorney. Watson received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from...

David L. Ladd

1961-1963

David L. Ladd was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, on September 18, 1926. He attended Kenyon College for a year before serving in the U.S. Army. He received a bachelor’s degree...

Edward J. Brenner

1964-1969

Edward J. Brenner was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, on June 26, 1923. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering and a law degree from the...

William E. Schuyler, Jr.

1969-1971

William E. Schuyler Jr. was born on February 3, 1914, in Washington, D.C., and resided in the Washington area for his entire career. His mother operated a patent...

Robert Gottschalk

1972-1973

Robert Gottschalk was born on January 10, 1911, in New York City. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from McGill University and a law degree from...

C. Marshall Dann

1974-1977

C. Marshall Dann was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, on March 27, 1915. His father was an engineer with Westinghouse Electric Corp. He received a bachelor’s degree in...

Donald W. Banner

1978-1979

Donald W. Banner was born in Chicago on February 24, 1924. He was a P-47 fighter pilot during World War II and was shot down in Europe and held as a prisoner of war until...

Sidney A. Diamond

1979-1981

Sidney A. Diamond was the first trademark law specialist to head the office. He had served on the U.S. delegation to a 1973 diplomatic conference in Vienna that resulted...

Gerald J. Mossinghoff

1981-1985

Gerald J. Mossinghoff was born in St. Louis on September 30, 1935. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from St. Louis University and a law degree...

Donald J. Quigg

1985-1989

Donald J. Quigg was born April 28, 1916, in Kansas City, Missouri. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma and a law...

Harry F. Manbeck, Jr.

1990-1992

Harry F. Manbeck Jr., was born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania on June 26, 1926. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University and was hired...

Bruce A. Lehman

1993-1998

Bruce A. Lehman was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, on September 19, 1945. He received history and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and served as legal...

Q. Todd Dickinson

1999-2001

Q. Todd Dickinson was born December 21, 1952, in Philadelphia. He received a bachelor’s in chemistry from Allegheny College and a law degree from the University of...

James E. Rogan

2001-2004

James E. Rogan was born August 21, 1957, in the Mission District of San Francisco. He described the early hardships of his life in his 2004 book Rough Edges – My Unlikely...

Jon W. Dudas

2004-2009

Jon W. Dudas was born on July 5, 1968, in Springfield, Illinois. He received a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois and a law degree from the...

David J. Kappos

2009-2013

Appointed by President Barack Obama, David J. Kappos served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and...

Michelle K. Lee

2015-2017

Appointed by President Barack Obama, Michelle K. Lee served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and...

Andrei Iancu

2018-2021

Andrei Iancu was born in 1968 in Bucharest, Romania, and immigrated to the United States when he was 12 years old. He was educated at the University of California, Los...