Former Quality Assurance Specialist Speaks on Patent Office Culture, 
Quality and Reform
hosted by the Washington, DC Chapter

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Eastern

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Central

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Mountain

11:00 am - 12:00 pm Pacific

Program:
There has been, is and will always be calls for improving the quality of patents issuing from the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).  With the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) recently finding that patent examiners are still prioritizing speed and quantity over examination quality, and with large numbers of patents being invalidated when challenged, the new USPTO director has his hands full to ensure that all patents are “born strong.”  Additionally, the current administration’s return-to-office mandate, hiring freezes, attrition and possible layoffs make reforms difficult.  With her long experience at the USPTO, Dr. Burke has many observations on the current state of the USPTO, and thoughts on how these and other challenges will impact inventors, innovators, tech transfer offices, companies and others over the coming year.

Speakers:

Julie Burke, PhD Julie has a BA in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of London College of Science, Technology and Medicine. As a primary patent examiner and Quality Assurance specialist Julie advocated for policy and practice changes for nearly 20 years from inside the US Patent and Trademark Office.  In 2015, she retired to work as a registered patent agent and patent scientist at Knobbe Martens. In 2000, Julie founded her own consulting company, IP Quality Pro LLC. She has served as an expert witness in court on patent office procedures and practices. She is frequently invited to speak on intellectual property issues. She is a trusted advisor to Petition.ai. Her investigatory articles and opinion pieces are regularly published by IPWatchdog, Innovation Gadfly and IAM. Her LAW360 thought-leading articles were rated the most-read guest posts for 2020 and 2022. Julie's op-ed “Why is the US Patent System Working Against US Interests” published by The Hill, in Dec. 2023 exposes grave national security concerns arising from the USPTO.  With more than 3 million LinkedIn post impressions reaching 445,000 members annually and a following of 16,000 strong, Dr. Burke is today's leading voice advocating for patent office reform.

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