CEA expressed its opposition to Philip Johnson as...

CEA expressed its opposition to Philip Johnson as the White House’s likely nominee to head the Patent and Trademark Office. “We are concerned, and frankly puzzled” by Johnson’s “potential nomination” to PTO chief, said Michael Petricone, CEA senior vice president-government and legal affairs, in a statement Wednesday. Johnson, chief intellectual property counsel for Johnson & Johnson, “took a leading role in stalling patent reform efforts earlier this year in the U.S. Senate, and worked diligently to weaken or kill a variety of White House initiatives to stop patent trolls,” Petricone said. “It seems absurd that a strong opponent of attempts to reduce frivolous litigation should be asked to implement the Obama Administration’s initiatives to fix our broken patent system.” The White House needs to go “back to the drawing board and find a qualified candidate who shares the President’s stated goal of improving our patent system by reducing litigation abuse,” Petricone said.