ONE COMMISSIONER ENTERS - ANOTHER ONE LEAVING? U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez has named John J. Doll to be Commissioner for Patents. He was sworn in on August 17, 2005. Doll has been Acting Commissioner for Patents since April 2005.

As Commissioner for Patents, Doll is responsible for the productivity and quality of the work done by more than 4,000 patent examiners, paralegals and other support professionals, for patent examination policy, budget decisions, and for patent-related Information Technology (IT) decisions.

From January – April 2005, Doll served as the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Resources and Planning directing information processing and technology, and budget formulation and execution for patent operations. He previously served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary. Doll was a group director from 1995 - 2004 in the technology center responsible for examination of biotechnology, organic chemistry, and pharmaceutical patent applications. He was an integral part of the team responsible for last year’s implementation of the Image File Wrapper (IFW), the USPTO’s electronic patent application processing system.

MEANWHILE . . .

Asahi has been reporting that an allegedly illegal slush fund has been discovered at Japan's trade ministry Policy Planning Office, where 45 bankbooks recorded "dubious" bank deposits and were stashed in a bag that was passed around as officials moved on.

One bank account was in the name of Hiroshi Ogawa, a former planning office head who now serves as commissioner of the Japan Patent Office, according to officials of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

At a Lower House committee session Wednesday, the ministry revealed the names of Ogawa and two other former office chiefs in connection with 12 million yen held in the slush fund.
Their names were used for three bank accounts, whose passbooks were among the 45 kept in the bag in question, according to the sources. The slush fund was allegedly built up through unused research subsidies to a ministry affiliate.