Derrick Brent is the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He serves as the principal advisor to Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, for one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world, with more than 13,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $4 billion.
Deputy Director Brent has served in all three branches of the federal government and the private sector. He clerked for the Hon. Algenon L. Marbley, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and served for six years as a Senior Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, where he received a Special Achievement Award for his trial work. Also, he served as a Chief Counsel in the U.S. Senate, where handled IP issues along with other areas such as constitutional law, civil rights, and judicial nominations.
Deputy Director Brent’s experience in the private sector includes serving as Vice President/Associate General Counsel for Masimo, on the leadership team at Cut Golf, and as an engineer at General Motors.
Deputy Director Brent received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University and a Juris Doctor degree from the Northwestern University School of Law (now the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law).