Obama needs a patent chief

[ksen]

So of course the front runner for the position is a pharmaceutical executive.

http://www.vox.com/2014/7/1/5858798/obama-is-on-the-verge-of-picking-a-patent-chief-who-opposed-his

And if that's not bad enough he's picking a guy that is against the patent reforms the administration publically says it wants.

The Obama administration has developed something of a split personality on patent issues. Last year, the White House unveiled a package of reforms designed to raise patent quality and reduce the abuse of low-quality patents by trolls. Yet thanks to David Kappos, Obama's choice to lead the US Patent and Trademark Office during his first term, the patent office has lowered standards for patent applications.

The president may be about to make the contradiction even worse. A rumor is swirling through the patent world that President Obama is about to name pharmaceutical executive Phil Johnson as the next head of the US Patent and Trademark Office, a post that has been vacant since Kappos quit in early 2013. The pick isn't official yet, and my reporting suggests it may not even be final. But if Obama does choose Johnson, it could deepen the divisions between the president's legislative agenda and his patent office.