Croak Visiting Scholars Program

The Dr. Marian Rogers Croak Visiting Scholars Program enlists the services of academic researchers as Croak Scholars to study intellectual property (IP) issues that further the agency's mission and the public interest. Following the introduction of the program in January 2012, Croak Scholars have studied ways to improve USPTO's efficiency and performance, decrease burdens on applicants, and improve patent quality and clarity, among other topics.

Croak Scholars

The Croak Scholars are senior scholars and experts in law and related fields. They provide research and advise on policy relevant to patent and trademark topics.

Current Croak Scholars:

Colleen Chien, Visiting Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
Mark Janis, Robert A. Lucas Chair and Professor of Law, Director, Center for Intellectual Property Research at Indiana University Mauer School of Law
Walter Park, Professor and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, College of Arts and Sciences Economics at the American University
Caren Ulrich Stacy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Diversity Lab
Neel U. Sukhatme, Anne Fleming Research Professor and Associate Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center

Additional information

Past scholars

Jonas Anderson, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Scholarship at American University’s Washington College of Law
Joseph P. Bailey, Associate Research Professor and Assistant Dean for Specialty Undergraduate Programs at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business
Lisa D. Cook, Professor of Economics at Michigan State University and Director of the American Economic Association Summer Program
Graeme Dinwoodie, Global Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Co-Director of the Program in Intellectual Property Law at Illinois Tech’s Chicago-Kent School of Law
Mark A. Finlayson, Eminent Scholar Chaired Associate Professor of Computer Science in the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences at Florida International University
Deepak Hegde, Professor of Management and NEC Faculty Fellow at New York University’s School of Business
Peter Menell, Koret Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law; Co-founder, former Executive Director, and Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology; and Co-founder and Faculty Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute
Joshua D. Sarnoff, Professor of Law at DePaul University
John Thomas, Professor of Law at Georgetown Law

Please direct any questions to visitingscholarsprogram@uspto.gov.