Andrei Iancu

Andrei Iancu (born April 2, 1968) is a Romanian-American engineer and intellectual property attorney, who served as the under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 2017 to 2021. He was nominated for both positions in 2017 by President Donald Trump. He left office January 20, 2021.

Early life and education

Iancu was born in Bucharest and left with his family for America at age 12. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering, a Master of Science in mechanical engineering, and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA, he was initiated into Sigma Pi fraternity.

Career

Before entering law school, Iancu was an engineer at Hughes Aircraft, from 1989 to 1993.

Following law school, in 1999, Iancu joined Irell & Manella, of which he became the managing partner in 2012.

His legal practice focused on intellectual property litigation. As an attorney, Iancu appeared before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States International Trade Commission, U.S. district courts, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In 2006, while Iancu was a partner at Irell & Manella, the firm represented Donald Trump, NBC Universal and Mark Burnett in a copyright suit which alleged that Mark Bethea and Velocity Entertainment Group had originally pitched The Apprentice to the production team, under the title of CEO. The case was "jointly settled out of court with an undisclosed settlement paid to Bethea" that year.

Iancu is also a lecturer of patent law at his alma mater, the UCLA School of Law.

USPTO

Iancu was nominated by President Trump on August 26, 2017. A hearing on his nomination was held on November 29, 2017. His nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 14, 2017 by a voice vote. He was confirmed by the Senate on February 5, 2018 by a 94–0 vote. He assumed the offices of Under Secretary and Director on February 8, 2018, when he was sworn in.

In 2020, Iancu was in office during the sharpest declines and inclines of trademark applications in history. COVID-19 lockdowns led to fewer filings in the beginning of the year, which then increased in July 2020, exceeding the previous July. September 2020 was subsequently the highest month of trademark filings in the history of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

References

External links

• Presidential Nomination no. 927, 115th Congress, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. September 5, 2017.

1. Survivor România All Stars
2. United States Patent and Trademark Office
3. Survivor România 2020
4. Irell & Manella
5. Iancu
6. Kathi Vidal
7. Iancu v. Brunetti
8. Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
9. Frequency-hopping spread spectrum
10. Romanian Americans
11. Michelle K. Lee
12. List of people from Bucharest
13. List of people who have headed the United States Patent Office
14. List of University of California, Los Angeles people
15. Iancu Țucărman
16. Q. Todd Dickinson
17. List of University of California, Los Angeles School of Law alumni
18. List of Department of Commerce appointments by Donald Trump
19. Costel Iancu
20. List of Sigma Pi members