As the Regional Director of the USPTO's Southwest Regional Outreach Office, Hope Shimabuku carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and is responsible for leading the Southwest office. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Shimabuku ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.
Ms. Shimabuku brings to the USPTO nearly three decades of experience as an engineer and intellectual property attorney. Most recently, Ms. Shimabuku was part of the Office of General Counsel at Xerox Corporation serving as Vice President and Corporate Counsel responsible for all intellectual property matters for Xerox Business Services LLC. She also worked for BlackBerry Corporation advising on United States and Chinese standards setting, cyber security, technology transfer, and intellectual property laws and legislation. As an engineer, she worked for Procter & Gamble and Dell Computer Corporation.
Ms. Shimabuku is a leader in the Texas region. She currently sits on the Emerging Leaders Board for the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, the Texas Intellectual Property Alliance board, and the board for the Texas Chapter of the ChIPs. She is also an honorary member and inaugural member of the Barbara M.G. Lynn IP Inn of Court. She is a past chair for the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of Texas, served as past president of the Dallas Asian American Bar Association, chaired the Dallas Diversity Task Force, and served on the board of the Dallas Bar Association and as a member of the Grievance Committee for the State Bar of Texas – District 6.
Throughout her career, Ms. Shimabuku has championed diversity efforts, including service as the first Asian-American Chair of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and was honored with the Champion of Diversity Award by the Association of Corporate Counsel and separately by the Asian Pacific Interest Section of the State Bar of Texas. She is also the recipient of the Justice David Wellington Chew Award by the Asian Pacific Interest Section of the State Bar of Texas for her commitment to pave the way for the advancement of Asian Pacific American attorneys in Texas. She has received numerous professional honors, including being honored as a Hero of Innovation by the Center for American and International Law, being selected as a Dallas Business Journal “Top 40 Under Forty,” named Dallas Business Journal’s Corporate Counsel Rookie of the Year, selected as one of DCEO’s “500 Most Powerful Business Leaders", being awarded the Women’s Leadership Award by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and being awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for Government Services for SMU Dedman School of Law.
Ms. Shimabuku has had the opportunity to participate in various events throughout her tenure with the USPTO, including SXSW Interactive, the Houston Tech Rodeo, Craft Brewers Conference and Brew Expo America, Center for American and International Policy, the Conrad Challenge Innovation Summit, FIRST Championships, and as a casting call guest on ABC's Shark Tank.
Ms. Shimabuku received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and graduated cum laude with a J.D. from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. She is a native Texan, born and raised in Houston.