John Owens II
Chief Information Officer
John B. Owens‚ II was appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the agency in December 2008. Since joining the USPTO in February 2008, Mr. Owens served as the director of the USPTO's System Development and Maintenance Group under the CIO, and served as Acting CIO since October 2008.
As CIO, Mr. Owens is the principal advisor to the USPTO on the architectural design and acquisition of supporting automated information systems and the underlying information technology infrastructure. He has led the recent initiatives at the USPTO to develop a roadmap to improve the USPTO's information systems infrastructure.
Mr. Owens has more than 16 years experience in the IT field including serving as technical director at AOL LLC from 1995 to 2008. Prior to joining AOL, John was a senior software engineer for e-Systems Melpar Division, GE Consulting for GE Aerospace, and Keane Inc. for Martin Marietta.
Originally from Rome, N.Y., John now lives in Virginia with his wife and children. He holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Clarkson University and Master of Business Administration in Technology Innovation Management from the University of Phoenix.
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.
