NEW DEPUTY PATENT COMMISSIONERS ANNOUNCED: Jon Dudas, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, announced three new Deputy Commissioners for Patents, effective January 21, 2005.

Joseph Rolla, currently a director in Technology Center 2600 (telecommunications), has been named Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy. In his new position, Mr. Rolla will be in charge of patent policy operations.

Margaret “Peggy” Focarino will head USPTO's patent operations as Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations. She is currently a director in Technology Center 2100 (computer architecture and software).

John Doll, a special assistant to Under Secretary Dudas, will be Deputy Commissioner for Patent Resources and Planning. In his new position, he will oversee patent information-technology and processing operations.

Joe Rolla joined the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1972 following his graduation from the University of Maryland with a degree in Physics. He was promoted to Primary Examiner in 1978 and to Supervisory Patent Examiner in 1982. He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1983. Joe was named a Group Director in 1990 and has served in a number of electrical cluster technology centers.

During his years at the USPTO, Joe has been actively involved in many projects of operational and legal significance to the office. He has received a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal, two Silver Medals and a Gold Medal in 1996 for his work with respect to the implementation of the USPTO examination guidelines for computer-related inventions.

Peggy Focarino graduated with a degree in physics from the State University of New York and became a patent examiner at the USPTO in 1977. She was promoted to a Supervisory Patent Examiner in 1989 and to the Senior Executive Service in 1997. She has been a Director in the computer related technology centers 2100 and 2800 since 2000.

Peggy has served as Patents' chief negotiator in several negotiations with the National Treasury Employees' Union (NTEU). She has also developed and negotiated numerous award programs for the technical support staff and managers within all of the business units of the patent organization. Peggy has been heavily involved in the training of patent managers on issues dealing with employee and labor relations for the last several years.

For the past year, John Doll has been on detail as a Special Assistant to Under Secretary Jon Dudas. Prior to that he was a Group Director in Technology Center 1600, responsible for those art units that examine organic chemistry, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology patent applications.

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowling Green State University in chemistry and physics and a Master of Science degree in physical chemistry from Penn State.

John joined the USPTO in 1974 and became a Group Director in 1995. Over the course of his career, John has received two Department of Commerce Bronze Medals, a Silver Medal and a Gold Medal last year for his work on the team that implemented the Image File Wrapper (IFW) electronic system.