“People at the USPTO are willing to support your professional development. A general spirit of camaraderie exists among staff at our agency in our common mission to promote and protect intellectual property."
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” is a wisdom attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca—and it’s also Michael’s mantra for success. “It aligns with my view that we must be willing to perpetually find or create opportunities that further develop us professionally and be ready to act on those opportunities when they arise,” he explains.
This same approach is evident throughout Michael’s impressive career journey from intern, to patent examiner, to patent classifier.
From student to federal civil servant
Originally from Virginia Beach, Michael’s professional journey began more than a decade ago when he attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. His personal interests in renewable energy and alternative farming technology led him to graduate with a degree in engineering.
In college, he participated in an internship with the Virginia Center for Wind Energy. Even before he graduated, a business services company SERCO recruited Michael to classify patent publications. In this new role, he eagerly learned to review and classify applications for wind turbines and other rotary fluid engine applications, a field related to his intern experience.
Two years later, Michael’s work led to him to join the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as a patent examiner. He first learned about America’s Innovation Agency after attending several in-person workshops at the USPTO’s headquarters campus in Alexandria, Virginia. The engaging workshops brought together the USPTO, the European Patent Office (EPO), and classification staff from SERCO with the goal of enhancing understanding of classification practices in Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC).
During one workshop on fluid handling devices, Michael partnered up with a since-retired primary examiner. They reviewed classifications for valves in fluid systems and discussed example documents with respect to the CPC.
“He expressed to me that he felt the USPTO is a great place to work! I was also really impressed with the beauty of the Alexandria campus and liked the idea of moving to the metro area and departing from my college town,” Michael recalls.
Seeking out growth opportunities
Once hired as a patent examiner, Michael learned so much. “Working as an examiner required me to view patents through a new lens, applying laws to determine eligibility of applications,” he explains.
As he settled into the agency, Michael began to seek out additional opportunities to share his experience using CPC schema with others. In fact, he delivered his first CPC training to his patent examining art unit while still serving in his initial probationary year with the office.
Additionally, he performed quality reviews and found community among his coworkers—he’s a member of several affinity groups, including the Patent and Trademark Office Society, the Club for Open Data Enthusiasts, and the American Romanian Intellectual Property Association.
Michael’s passion for positive, above-and-beyond engagement at work continued when he took the initiative to participate as a mentee in the USPTO Mentoring Connection program. His mentor works on his current team in the Classification Standards and Development Division, where Michael applied for and received a promotion to serve as a patent classifier.
Striving for excellence as a patent classifier
In this exciting new role, Michael now primarily facilitates negotiations between U.S. examiners and EPO experts on modifications to the CPC system. He also documents and implements any bilaterally agreed changes. Michael takes great pride in helping to clarify the CPC system for users and collaborating with all stakeholders towards building a global system for the classification of all patents into a single registry.
“Recalling that the engineering design process begins with identifying a problem,” Michael carefully explains, “I believe the patent documents we organize globally will help others identify existing solutions to problems documented in the patent literature.”
The work is complex but rewarding. That’s because the Classification Standards and Development (CSD) division of the Office of International Patent Cooperation is a “small, tight-knit team of highly skilled experts” who specialize in negotiation and who work regularly with EPO classification staff, “such that the EPO personnel could be considered an extension of our team,” Michael reflects.
Michael's advice for others
Michael advises others considering a similar career path: “People in my division are all former patent examiners, so the first piece of advice would be to become a patent examiner. Many of the staff in other departments around the USPTO who work outside the day-to-day examining are also former patent examiners. The USPTO offers two accelerated six-month promotions [to patent examiners] in the first two years, allowing people who work diligently to become primary examiners relatively quickly. Once you become a primary examiner, other career opportunities at the agency become available to you.”
He also urges those interested to work on their time management skills, since many roles require working independently within deadlines.
There's always a next career phase at the USPTO
Overall, Michael says he’s experienced positive career growth at the USPTO.
“People at the USPTO are willing to support your professional development, and a general spirit of camaraderie exists among staff at our agency in our common mission to promote and protect intellectual property. Promotion goals are clear and measurable, leaving little uncertainty what is required to advance to the next phase of your career,” he explains.
“Witnessing my career grow from being a contract classifier, classifying individual patent documents, to presently leading discussions internationally for U.S.-proposed changes to classification systems is very rewarding,” he continues.
Even with his career success, it’s no surprise that Michael still hasn’t stopped seeking growth opportunities. “I am a graduate of the 2024 Emerging Leaders Program, where I became an avid believer of the value of strength-based team alignment for enhancing emergent characteristics,” he shares. “When we intentionally align our team based on the strengths of its members, we can achieve higher-level results than if we each worked independently!”