In March 2025, President Trump nominated John A. Squires for the positions of Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). After being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 20-2, Squires was confirmed by the Senate on September 17, 2025, by a vote of 51-47 after anti-filibuster measures were invoked. During and after the confirmation process, Squires emphasized several goals [...]

Artificial intelligence (AI) already helps research teams design novel molecular structures, predict protein interactions, and identify therapeutic candidates, dramatically increasing the speed of drug discovery. The economic implications are substantial: AI drug discovery is projected to generate $13.4 billion by 2035, up from $1.8 billion in 2024.1 But there's a catch. Pharmaceutical economics depends on patents, and patents require human inventors who actually conceived the inventions. Courts have held that AI systems cannot be [...]

The USPTO's new director, John A. Squires, has moved quickly to set a tone on subject matter eligibility. Within days of confirmation, he signed patents in distributed ledger technology and medical diagnostics (September 23, 2025). Shortly thereafter, he designated an Appeals Review Panel decision addressing AI as precedential (November 4, 2025). Most recently, he reminded examiners of the evidentiary role of declarations using examples in AI (December 4, 2025). Squires has singled out AI, distributed ledger technologies and diagnostics as [...]