What Happened to Mission First, People Always? Unpredictable Times at the USPTO: Landslide® Magazine Interview with Vaishali Udupa

• Pages: 5-9
• Date: 01 June 2025
• Published date: 01 June 2025
• Author: Mareesa Frederick

LANDSLIDE June/July 2025

Published in Landslide, Volume 17, Number 4, 2025. © 2025 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion

thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the

American Bar Association.

5

V

aishali Udupa is a well-known f‌igure in the intellectual

property (IP) world, with a career spanning more than two

decades across roles in private practice, in-house counsel

at Hewlett-Packard and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and most

recently, public service as the Commissioner for Patents at the

United States Patent and Trademark Oce (USPTO). In her role

as Commissioner, Vaishali led a workforce of more than 11,000

employees—including approximately 9,300 patent examiners—

and was responsible for all aspects of patent examination and

issuance. She managed a $3.9 billion budget funded entirely by

user fees, while also serving as the principal patent adviser to the

Under Secretary of Commerce.

Her leadership encompassed a wide range of responsibilities,

including workforce management, IT modernization, examiner and

stakeholder engagement, and the development of both domestic

and international patent policy. Under her guidance, the USPTO

achieved its f‌irst rise in examiner production since 2019 and the

Image: Getty Images/Wynnr

largest increase since 2015, there were signif‌icant reductions in f‌irst-

year examiner attrition, and the patent business unit maintained a

strong f‌inancial reserve nearing $1 billion, highlighting the agency’s

commitment to operational eciency and long-term investment

in American innovation. Vaishali’s work supported the USPTO

motto of “Mission f‌irst, people always,” as well as the constitu-

tional mandate to promote progress in science and the useful arts,

as outlined in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.

In February 2025, Vaishali stepped down from her position

as Commissioner for Patents after two years of service. This was

notable, as the role—under 35 U.S.C. § 2—is a f‌ive-year appoint-

ment made by the Secretary of Commerce.

Landslide® magazine was fortunate to sit down with Vaishali

to ref‌lect on her tenure, explore the challenges and achievements

of her time at the USPTO, and discuss the future of the agency in

light of recent shifts brought by the Trump administration.

Two of the f‌irst executive orders President Trump issued were to

have federal workers return to the oce1 and to institute a hiring

freeze for the federal government.

2

How have the orders impacted

What Happened to

Mission First, People Always?

Unpredictable Times at the USPTO

Landslide® Magazine Interview

with Vaishali Udupa

Landslide® magazine interview conducted by Mareesa

Frederick.