IP Law Daily, WHITE HOUSE NEWS: Senate confirms Howard Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce in party-line vote, (Feb 19, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Cantor Fitzgerald | Intellectual Property Owners Association | Nvidia
The incoming secretary takes charge at a time when the USPTO is struggling with patent latency problems and staff cutbacks.
The Trump Administration’s cabinet continues to take shape, with the Senate’s confirmation of Howard Lutnick as Secretary of the Department of Commerce on February 18 by a vote of 51-45. The vote was split neatly along party lines. Lutnick comes to the White House from Wall Street financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, where he served as chairman and CEO. He also played a key role as a transition advisor to President Trump and Vice President Vance during the period between the election and the inauguration. The confirmation of Lutnick marks the filling of another key cabinet post, and one crucial to Trump’s stated goals regarding international trade, including punitive tariffs on trade partners, such as China. Next in line in this respect will be the confirmation vote for prospective U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who was advanced by the Senate Finance Committee on February 12.
Prospects for IP leadership. Lutnick’s responsibilities as Commerce Secretary will include oversight of the executive branch’s intellectual property policies and programs. He takes the helm at the Commerce Department during a time in which the U.S. Patent Trademark Office is undergoing staff cutbacks and personnel changes, amid growing concerns among IP stakeholders regarding delays in the issuance of patents and trademarks. Commissioner for Patents Vaishali Udupa resigned earlier this month, reportedly opting to accept the “buyout” offered by Trump, inviting all federal employees to leave the government. For the time being, Udupa has been replaced by Valencia Martin Wallace as Acting Commissioner for Patents. Lutnick will also be looking for a new Director of the agency; Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart is currently serving as Acting Director.
Lutnick told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at his confirmation hearing on January 29 that he would prioritize reducing the patent application backlog. At the hearing, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) expressed concern that China had taken the lead in holding trademarks and patents in 57 “critical and emerging technologies,” and she linked this to delays in processing patent applications at the USPTO. Senator Blackburn noted that the backlog at the USPTO now exceeded 820,000 pending patent applications.
“The backlog is unacceptable and my pursuit will be the rigorous reduction of that to get it down,” Lutnick replied. “It used to historically be 500,000 and I thought that was unacceptable. I am a patent holder, I've used the patent office over many years, it could be much more productive but the Chinese are abusing us. They don't give us protection in China and they come in and use our patent office against us. This is going to end, we are going to study that, and we are going to work on ending that and making sure our American inventors get taken care of quickly and effectively.”
Lutnick elaborated on his concerns about IP theft by Chinese enterprises and promised to expand efforts to enforce U.S. IP rights abroad. Lutnick singled out the recently debuted Chinese-developed open-source generative artificial intelligence system, DeepSeek, telling the committee that he didn’t “believe that DeepSeek was done above board.” He accused the Chinese startup of unfairly using U.S. technology to compete with the U.S. high-tech industry, while criticizing U.S. companies for being too open with their own IP. “We need to drive our innovation and we need to stop helping them,” he said. “You know, open platforms—Meta’s open platform let DeepSeek rely on it. Nvidia’s chips, which they bought tons of, and they found their ways around, drive their DeepSeek model. It’s got to end.”
Reactions. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, congratulated Lutnick. During consideration of Lutnick’s nomination by the Senate, Cruz had said, “Over the next few years, Mr. Lutnick will lead on key issues vital to the success of America’s economy: expanding commercial access to mid-band spectrum, keeping the Gulf open for oil and gas exploration, and spurring a resurgence of manufacturing in America. Mr. Lutnick will ensure American taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and that Congress gets ‘the benefit of the bargain’ on legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act.”
Representative Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, welcomed the confirmation in a statement. “As our country confronts the challenges of competing on the global stage, the Department of Commerce plays a central role in promoting American leadership in AI and other cutting-edge technologies, along with closing the digital divide and utilizing the full range of communications technologies,” Guthrie said. “Howard Lutnick is the right person to run the Commerce Department and help American businesses succeed.”
The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) also congratulated Lutnick. The IPO applauded Lutnick’s statements during his confirmation hearing “recognizing the unacceptable nature of the current patent backlog and pendency numbers, and [his] commitment to ensuring that ‘American inventors get taken care of quickly and effectively’ is a significant step in the right direction.”
In a post on X.com, the USPTO said, “We look forward to working with him to protect and strengthen the IP system in the U.S. Secretary Lutnick has first-hand knowledge of patent system as a named inventor on hundreds of U.S. patents.”
News: Patent TechnologyInternet Trademark USPTO GCNNews