Remarks by John A. Squires
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
Tuesday, September 23, 2025, 11 a.m. ET
USPTO Headquarters, Alexandria, Virginia
Good morning. Yesterday, in my welcoming remarks, I shared my conviction that America needs a strong, robust, expansive, and resilient intellectual property system. Today, I am making good on that promise.
In my first official act as the 60th Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, I am honored to sign into issuance two patents at the frontier of human ingenuity: one in the field of distributed ledger/crypto technologies, and another in the field of medical diagnostics.
These have been areas of great, but in my view unproductive, debate—too often dismissed as “mere business methods” or “ineligible diagnostic practices.” As President Trump recently reaffirmed Calvin Coolidge’s ageless maxim, “the business of America is business.” I wanted to send a clear message with the first two patents issued on my watch: the U.S. Patent Office is open for business, especially for the technologies of tomorrow.
To underscore this, I also present today a copy of Samuel Morse’s seminal telegraph patent from 1840—an innovation that transformed communications forever. Claim 5 of that patent was upheld by the Supreme Court as patent eligible in light of claim 8 being abstract. It reminds us that applied technologies are foundational and form the backbone of America’s growth.
The onrush of technology knows no bounds. From crypto and AI to quantum computing and diagnostics, the marketplace is filled with breathtaking opportunities for invention and investment. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? What I do know is that the patents I signed today represent applied and patent-eligible technologies driving the frontiers of knowledge.
With this, I say to inventors and entrepreneurs everywhere: the U.S. Patent Office is your partner. We are here to secure your rights, unleash your potential, and ensure that innovation continues to power America’s future.
I am delighted to issue U.S. Patent No. 12,419,201 and U.S. Patent No. 12,419,202. Congratulations to the inventors, their prosecution agents and attorneys, and the examiners who issued them. May these be the first of many, many, many breakthroughs to come that we grant as patents.
