Beginning on October 20, 2025, recently confirmed United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director John A. Squires met with European Patent Office (EPO) Vice-President Steve Rowan and Japanese Patent Office (JPO) Commissioner Yasuyuki Kasai for a two-day meeting as part of the 43rd annual meeting of the Trilateral Offices.
The Trilateral Offices are comprised of the EPO, the JPO, and the USPTO.[1] Beginning in the early 1980s, the three offices experienced a dramatic rise in the number of patent filings, leading to challenges adjusting to the increased volume of filings.[2] As the offices shared similar problems, the USPTO, EPO, and JPO proposed creating a co-operation to solve these challenges, and, in 1983, the EPO, JPO, and USPTO met for the first time in Washington DC, establishing the Trilateral Co-operation.[3] Since 1983, the EPO, JPO, and USPTO have met annually to develop common approaches to international IP challenges. [4]
This year, Squires, Rowan, and Kasai, together with Lisa Jorgenson, the Deputy Director General, Patents and Technology Sector for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), who participated in the meeting as an observer, welcomed industry sector representatives BusinessEurope, the Japan Intellectual Property Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. The offices and representatives discussed various tools and systems used by each office and shared best practices.[5]
The meeting largely focused on the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including how AI tools can be used to improve efficiency and patent quality at the USPTO, EPO, and JPO.[6] The offices discussed how to promote greater alignment in the treatment of AI-related inventions between the EPO, USPTO, and JPO, and agreed to explore AI-related cooperation opportunities that incorporate the industry sector representatives’ feedback.[7] Additionally, the Trilateral Offices agreed to found a Trilateral Working Group to create the AI Vision for the Trilateral Offices.[8] The Trilateral Offices expect that this Trilateral AI Working Group will present its findings next year at the 44th Annual Trilateral Conference, to be held in Vienna, Austria.[9]
The Trilateral Offices meeting was one of the first major events Squires attended in his new role as Director of the USPTO. Squires was nominated for the role in March 2025, confirmed by the Senate on September 18, 2025, and sworn in on September 22, 2025, replacing then Acting Director of the USPTO, Coke Morgan Stewart.[10] Squires comes to the USPTO with a background in both patent litigation and prosecution, specifically focusing on emerging technologies, including AI.[11] Prior to joining the USPTO, Squires served as Partner and Chair of the Emerging Companies and IP practice at Dilworth Paxon LLP.
Squires’ focus on using AI to improve efficiency during the Trilateral Offices meeting is unsurprising, given Squires’ express goal of addressing the “patent backlog and provid[ing] updated tools to ensure the issuance of market-timely intellectual property of demonstratable quality,” as well as Squires’ stated belief that AI can be used during patent examination to help improve patent quality.[12] While still early in his tenure, Squires’ endorsement of AI and its use to improve efficiency at the USPTO will likely affect the examination of life science patent applications in the near future.
Editor: Brenden S. Gingrich, Ph.D.
[1] https://www.trilateral.net/home (last visited Oct. 24, 2025).
[2] https://www.trilateral.net/about/history (last visited Oct. 24, 2025).
[3] https://www.trilateral.net/about/timeline (last visited Oct. 24, 2025); https://www.trilateral.net/home (last visited Oct. 24, 2025).
[4] https://www.trilateral.net/about/objectives (last visited Oct. 24, 2025)
[5] USPTO, Trilateral Offices meet to discuss ways to enhance patent quality and improve efficiency, available at https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/trilateral-offices-meet-discuss-ways-enhance-patent-quality-and-improve (last updated Oct. 24, 2025).
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] https://www.congress.gov/nomination/119th-congress/26/44 (last visited October 24, 2025); https://www.instagram.com/p/DO6NFk3jRIV/ (last visited Oct. 24, 2025).
[11] Dilworth Paxson LLP, “Dilworth Paxson LLP Welcomes Innovative IP Attorney John. A. Squires to the Firm, ”Available at https://www.dilworthlaw.com/blog/dilworth-paxson-llp-welcomes-innovative-ip-attorney-john-a-squires-to-the-firm/ (May 8, 2017)
[12] Nomination of John A Squires, Questions for the Record, at 1-3, available at https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2025-05-21_qfrresponses_squires.pdf (last visited Oct. 24, 2025).
Subscribe for News and Updates
