Coke Morgan Stewart is an American lawyer and government official serving as the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She served as acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and acting director of the USPTO from January 20, 2025, until John A. Squires joined the agency as director on September 22, 2025.[1][2][3]
Coke Morgan Stewart | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Stewart in 2025 | |
| Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office | |
| In office January 20, 2025 – September 22, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Derrick L. Brent (acting) |
| Succeeded by | John A. Squires |
| Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office | |
| Assumed office January 20, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Derrick L. Brent |
| Personal details | |
| Education | Duke University (BA) University of Virginia School of Law (JD) |
Before returning to the USPTO in 2025, Stewart was a senior counsel at O'Melveny & Myers and previously served as a deputy attorney general for the Commonwealth of Virginia. She also held several earlier legal and policy positions at the USPTO from 2011 to 2021.[1][4]
Education
editStewart graduated cum laude from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts. She earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was executive editor of the Virginia Tax Review and editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Weekly. After law school, she clerked for Judge James T. Turner of the United States Court of Federal Claims.[5][6]
Career
editStewart practiced intellectual property litigation in Washington, D.C., including at Kaye Scholer LLP, where she represented patent holders and accused infringers in patent infringement litigation.[6][4]
Stewart joined the USPTO in 2011 and worked at the agency for ten years. Her roles included Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Deputy Director of the USPTO, Acting Chief of Staff, Counsel to the Director, Senior Policy Advisor, Acting Deputy Solicitor, and Associate Solicitor. In those positions, she defended USPTO decisions in federal court and advised agency leadership and presidential administrations on intellectual property issues including patent eligibility, drug pricing, and artificial intelligence.[1]
In August 2021, Regent University announced that Stewart would join the faculty of its law school to teach appellate advocacy.[6] Stewart later served as Deputy Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia, supervising the Health, Education and Social Services Division of the Virginia Attorney General's Office.[1][4] In July 2023, O'Melveny & Myers announced that Stewart had joined the firm as senior counsel in its intellectual property and technology practice group.[4]
USPTO leadership
editOn January 20, 2025, Stewart was sworn in as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO. She was also named acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and acting director of the USPTO, succeeding Derrick L. Brent, who had served in an acting capacity after the departure of Kathi Vidal.[2][7][8]
As acting director, Stewart oversaw several procedural changes affecting the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). In February 2025, the USPTO rescinded a 2022 memorandum concerning discretionary denials in America Invents Act post-grant proceedings involving parallel district court litigation.[9] On March 26, 2025, Stewart issued a memorandum establishing an interim bifurcated process under which the director would first address discretionary-denial issues before referring petitions to PTAB panels for merits and other non-discretionary considerations.[10]
On July 31, 2025, Stewart issued a USPTO memorandum concerning admitted prior art and general knowledge in inter partes review proceedings. The memorandum stated that the agency would enforce and no longer waive 37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(4), and that inter partes review petitions must identify where each claim element is found in prior art patents or printed publications. The policy applied to petitions filed on or after September 1, 2025.[11] A Reuters legal analysis described the policy as restricting the types of prior art that could be used to supply claim limitations in inter partes review petitions.[12]
The USPTO announced Squires's arrival as director on September 22, 2025, and stated that Stewart would continue to serve as Deputy Under Secretary and Deputy Director.[3]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 "Coke Morgan Stewart". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- 1 2 Crouch, Dennis (January 20, 2025). "Welcome Director Stewart". Patently-O. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- 1 2 "USPTO welcomes new Director John A. Squires". United States Patent and Trademark Office. September 22, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "O'Melveny Welcomes Former USPTO Acting Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart to its Washington, DC Office" (Press release). O'Melveny & Myers. July 6, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- ↑ "Coke Morgan Stewart". United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Regent Law Welcomes New Faculty Member Coke Stewart, Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO". Regent University. August 19, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- ↑ "Coke Morgan Stewart Named Acting Director of the USPTO". O'Melveny & Myers. January 20, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- ↑ "New Deputy Director at US Patent and Trademark Office Implementing New Administration Policies". WilmerHale. January 29, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- ↑ Boalick, Scott R. (March 24, 2025). "Guidance on USPTO's Recission of 'Interim Procedure for Discretionary Denials in AIA Post-Grant Proceedings with Parallel District Court Litigation'" (PDF). United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- ↑ Stewart, Coke Morgan (March 26, 2025). "Interim Processes for PTAB Workload Management" (PDF). United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- ↑ Stewart, Coke Morgan (July 31, 2025). "Enforcement and Non-Waiver of 37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(4) and Permissible Uses of General Knowledge in Inter Partes Reviews" (PDF). United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- ↑ McCombs, David L.; Bowser, Jonathan R. (August 22, 2025). "USPTO restricts prior art that can be used in inter partes reviews". Reuters. Retrieved April 30, 2026.