Teresa Stanek Rea
Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO
Teresa Stanek Rea is Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Ms. Rea oversees an office that encourages innovation and technological advancement, and helps businesses protect their investments, promote their goods and safeguard against deception in the marketplace.
Ms. Rea joined the USPTO in 2011 as Deputy Director. She is a leading attorney in the field of intellectual property with more than 25 years of legal experience and a past president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). Before joining the USPTO, Ms. Rea was a partner in Crowell & Moring LLP’s Washington, D.C., office where she focused on intellectual property and dispute resolution related to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other life science issues. Rea has experience in drafting infringement and validity opinions, as well as experience in interference and licensing matters.
Ms. Rea also worked for Ethyl Corporation from 1980 through 1984 and for patent boutique firm Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis in Alexandria, Va.
Ms. Rea is a member of many technical and legal associations and has been a frequent lecturer and publisher on patent topics including biotechnology, nanotechnology, licensing, technology transfer, patent practice, export control and interferences.
Ms. Rea received a Juris Doctor degree from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from the University of Michigan.
About the USPTO
Since 1790, the basic role of the United States intellectual property system has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution). Today, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is a federal agency in the Department of Commerce, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. Through the issuance of patents, the USPTO encourages technological advancement by providing incentives to invent, invest in, and disclose new technology worldwide. Through the registration of trademarks, the agency assists businesses in protecting their investments, promoting goods and services, and safeguarding consumers against confusion and deception in the marketplace. By disseminating both patent and trademark information, the USPTO promotes an understanding of intellectual property protection and facilitates the development and sharing of new technologies worldwide.
