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Nicholas P. Godici Executive Advisor Address: Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP Suite 100 East 8110 Gatehouse Road Falls Church, VA  22042 USA Telephone: +1-703-205-8000 Facsimile: +1-703-205-8050 E-mail: ngodici@bskb.com

Nicholas P. Godici served for five years as the Commissioner for Patents and as the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As Commissioner, Mr. Godici was responsible for all aspects of the patent granting process for the United States.  Mr. Godici has served as Executive Advisor to Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP since 2005.

Mr. Godici has over 30 years experience in intellectual property rights protection, including over 20 years of organizational management and leadership experience at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He has represented the United States in a number of international negotiations involving intellectual property issues and agreements with other countries. He served as Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO from January to December 2001.

• Commissioner for Patents, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. (March 2000-2005): Appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. Served as the Chief Operating Officer for all aspects of patent related operations with the mission to properly implement the patent laws and regulations of the United States. Areas of responsibility included congressional relations, public advisory committee relations and patent policy formulation. Testified before the United States House and Senate on various intellectual property matters.
• Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. (January 2001-December 2001): Responsible for all aspects of intellectual property policy and operations for the United States. Represented the United States in international meetings at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and before other national IP offices. Hosted the annual heads of office meeting with the President of the European Patent Organization (EPO) and the Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office (JPO). Interacted with Congress, other agencies of the Federal Government, and major IP bar and trade associations on legal issues, operations of the USPTO and national security.
• Various Positions Within the USPTO (June 1972-March 2000): Held various positions with the USPTO starting with patent examiner, supervisory patent examiner, group director, and Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Patents. Lectured in the Patent Academy for many years. Responsibilities included oversight for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) operations which included the processing of all international applications and responsibility for the entire patent examining corps.

Professional Affiliations and Awards:

• Elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), 2001.
• Outstanding Engineering Alumni, Pennsylvania State University, 2002
• Member of the Industrial and Professional Advisory Committee for the College of Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, 2001-2003.
• Named “one of the most important people in intellectual property” by Legal Times Magazine in 2001.
• Awarded a bronze and two silver medals from the United States Department of Commerce.

Publications:

• “Supporting a Knowledge Based Economy” Software Patents, Managing Intellectual Property Magazine, Innovation and Invention Focus 2004.

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