Less Government's Motley Urges Trump Not to Retain Obama Administration's PTO Director

Less Government President Seton Motley urged President Donald Trump to remove Michelle Lee as Patent and Trademark Office director. House IP Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and the Computer & Communications Industry Association separately praised Trump's apparent decision to keep Lee at PTO, based on news reports (see 1701190046). The White House and PTO haven't confirmed that Lee will keep her position, leading Motley to suggest in a RedState blog post that Trump “should not” keep her on. Lee “is antithetical to the position of USPTO Director -- and Trump’s desire for IP protection enforcement,” Motley said. He said, given Trump's IP rights protection goals, Lee's past experience as Google's head of patents and patent strategy, when coupled with perceptions that former President Barack Obama's administration was pro-Google, make her a bad fit to lead PTO. “Trump should instead appoint someone who shares his respect for IP and patents” to lead the office, Motley said. PTO didn't comment.