Kathi Vidal of Winston & Strawn.

This article is adapted from Scott Graham's May 28 Skilled in the Art IP briefing.

President Joe Biden this week nominated Winston & Strawn's Silicon Valley managing partner, Kathi Vidal, to be USPTO director. To the extent there may be a confirmation controversy over how the director will manage the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and guide examiners on Section 101, Vidal seems like an ideal nominee to defuse it.

Vidal has litigated both sides of patent eligibility at the Federal Circuit within the last few years. (She also said in a 2019 Skilled in the Art interview that, in light of advances in artificial intelligence, "patent eligibility, like other aspects of our patent system, needs to be carefully rethought.") So pretty much a middle-grounder on Section 101.

Before the PTAB, Vidal has represented both large company petitioners such as Micron Technologies and smaller patent owners. "Having a director who has done IPR litigation will be helpful," said Emory University patent scholar Tim Holbrook. "She will be familiar with the pros and cons of that system and the possibility for reform that lies within the discretion of the USPTO."