WASHINGTON – Dean Garfield, the President and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), the global voice for the technology sector's leading companies, issued the following statement today following the Senate’s vote to confirm Michelle Lee as the next director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office:

“The tech sector innovates rapidly but new advances often don’t make it past the drawing board because of patent application backlogs, delays, and patent trolls manipulating shortcomings in the current patent system. That is why it’s important to have a strong hand at the helm of the Patent and Trademark Office, and we congratulate Michelle Lee on her confirmation. She brings a wealth of experience to the leadership of this key agency, especially as it expands its services and outreach across the country, and we look forward to working with her to advance homegrown innovation and the American economy.”

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