In December last year Mary Boney Denison was appointed as the new Commissioner for Trademarks at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) effective January 1, 2015.
Since June 2011, Denison has served as the Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Operations, where she has been responsible for USPTO trademark application, legal examination and registration processes. She has led outreach to the trademark legal community, small businesses and applicants without legal counsel. Denison is also an active participant in meetings with the world’s largest trademark offices, promoting projects aimed at harmonization of trademark practices and procedures. While at the USPTO she has initiated several projects to enhance and expand internal and external communications as well as employee career development.
Before joining the USPTO, Denison practiced law in the area of trademark prosecution and litigation, as a founding partner of Manelli Denison & Selter PLLC in Washington, D.C. from 1996 to 2011, and as a partner of Graham & James LLP, where she practiced for ten years. She served as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Trademark Association (INTA) for three years, and also served a three year term on the USPTO’s Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC). Denison is a respected member of the trademark bar, and a graduate of Duke University and the University of North Carolina School of Law.
The Commissioner for Trademarks oversees all aspects of the USPTO’s trademarks organization, including policy, operations and budget relating to trademark examination, registration and maintenance. Denison will oversee an operation that has reduced the time it takes to receive a trademark to the lowest level since 2008, with examiners reaching an indication of eligibility for registration via a first action in less than 3.5 months. The agency has achieved and maintained this short pendency rate while increasing its operating efficiency, with more than 80 percent of trademark applications in 2014 processed completely electronically.
Source: USPTO
