U.S. Undersecretary and Director John A. Squires Provides Remarks on U.S. Innovation

On September 15, 2026, the Undersecretary for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office John A. Squires gave a speech titled, “Protecting U.S. IP and Tech Leadership through International Trade Policy Tools,” at the USC Gould School of Law IP conference in Washington DC.  Some of his comments concerned the United States’ work and intentions with respect to its international agenda, AI regulation and name, image and likeness rights.  The full speech is available, here.  Here are parts of his remarks:

At the 68th Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held in July, we insisted that the organization focus on the needs of companies and individuals who are managing increasingly complex patent portfolios.

We want the Patent Cooperation Treaty, signed by 159 contracting states, to work not only for the big guys, but for the small and medium-sized companies and individuals who are on the forefront of innovation.

We want WIPO to move past the outdated and archaic requirements that discourage trademark owners’ full use of the Madrid system in pursuing important branding rights across the globe.

We also were instrumental in kicking off WIPO’s “IP Growth Initiative,” focusing on using IP as a strategic “power tool” to drive innovation and economic growth. And not in 10 years, but now.

The world’s inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs cannot wait. The onrush of technology has never even heard of the word “wait.” Innovation only knows “now.”

In every global forum, and through our IP attachés located in all of the important global markets, we have insisted on ensuring that it is well understood that robust IP protection fosters innovation, incentivizes research and development, maintains competitive markets, and ensures fair and appropriate renumeration for our innovators and rights holders—reciprocation and respect.

And we have made the case in every international forum that IP systems, such as the one we have in America, are the strongest engines for growth ever created, both for economies and for personal accomplishment and success. We have also taken steps to broaden the base of IP rights holders in our own country.

We just opened an Emerging Technologies Office in San Francisco as part of the agency’s efforts to advance the use of AI and engage with the AI industry.

This office serves as a hub to convene our stakeholders involved in AI, enabling them to work with federal officials on how best to steer AI adoption for American dominance.

It will help U.S. companies gain a foothold in the federal marketplace and assist them in exporting their AI products and systems to other countries.

And we are focused on protecting the rights of individuals.

For the first time ever, we participated in the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh to work with student athletes and others about the legal right to their name, image, and likeness. And like I said, filings are up 11%.

This is a huge and growing area of IP protection, and we want to make sure people are aware of their potential.

Of course, challenges remain. For example, earlier this year, a federal court of appeals held that trademarks lack the full set of constitutional protections afforded physical property rights because trademarks are “intangible property.”

That case involves a trademark registered by the USPTO years ago in the name “Roberto Clemente,” one of Puerto Rico’s favorite sons who was a hall of fame baseball player and humanitarian who died in a plane crash bringing aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. I remember vividly when his plane went down.

The case is now on appeal at the Supreme Court, and it is certainly a matter of substantial interest to many people in my office, for we think not only that the intangible property rights issued by our office are deserving of full constitutional protections as property, but also that such rights are essential to a modern, 21st-century economy. Just ask the S&P 500.

Beyond personal branding such as the one memorializing Roberto Clemente, the legal protections afforded by IP laws do much more. They enable our nation’s gifted writers, musicians, and artists to break into regional and national markets, and for those who are truly gifted to reach much broader audiences around the globe.