Remarks by John A. Squires at the America 250 signing ceremony and Commerce Secretary Howard W. Lutnick’s Trading Card unveiling

Remarks as delivered

John A. Squires

60th Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO

Historic patent and trademark signing ceremony commemorating America's 250th birthday

Department of Commerce

July 23, 2026

Remarks given: 11:10 a.m. ET

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for that kind introduction, Jason. I am thrilled to be here today, and am excited to sign four new and incredible patents and trademarks, in a very special place, the Commerce Research Library, which used to house the United States Patent and Trademark office. And I'm honored to be joined today by Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Paul Dabbar.

What's amazing is that these commemorative patent and trademark signings perfectly capture America's Innovation Agency's -the USPTO's-reason for being, because this is a time, right now when innovation has never been more prominent, important, and indeed embodied by any Administration.

Look no further than our Administration's innovation powerhouses such as our very own Secretary Lutnick, a named inventor on 506 patents. Just incredible.

And, of course, it almost goes without saying that President Donald J. Trump is the most brilliant creator and generator of brand value the world has ever seen!

So, there is no better way to celebrate today than to kick off our Commemorative Patent and Trademark Signing Ceremony, than with an unveiling of a new USPTO Trading Card to celebrate America's 250th Birthday, because, from the beginning, our IP-system was created like no other in the world, AND today it fuels the revving engine of America's growth and is a driving force of the business of America being business.

Indeed, the business of America is business because it is synonymous with American ingenuity, invention, free markets and economic might.

To be sure, the business of America got its chance over 200 years ago, in 1790 when the first U.S. patent was signed-and has never looked back.

You see, two years earlier, our Founders ratified perhaps the most remarkable idea recorded in language of all time. The U.S. Constitution.

And even more remarkably, they placed intellectual property rights protection directly into the beating heart of a young America.

In Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8, they enshrined a right for you, and me, and every American, which secures for a limited time "to Authors and Inventors the EXCLUSIVE RIGHT to their respective writings and discoveries."

And there it is.

The word "right."

It's the only recitation of a "right" in the textual document itself. Otherwise, you have to look to the first 10 amendments-our Bill of Rights. But here it is unto itself-boldly, remarkably, daringly, beautifully- and ultimately singularly appearing in Article 1 among the Seven articles of the "Constitution Proper."

So, it should come as no surprise-though it always astonishes-that the USPTO is in fact one of the oldest federal missions in our government.

Before there was a Department of Treasury.

Before there was a Department of State.

Before there were most of the institutions we now take for granted-there was a foundational and fundamental commitment to innovation.

From the birth of our Republic, innovation has always been central, because it has always belonged to us.

It is part and parcel of the American Experiment itself, part of the American Experience itself, and IS the very vibrancy, the very resiliency of American Exceptionalism itself.

And innovation is the lifeblood of it all.

It is the beautiful artifact of vibrant imagination, a glimpse into the art of the possible, a peak into what IS the NEW and THE NEXT. It is 'in and of' every one of our brighter tomorrows.

There is nothing like it. American ingenuity has propelled a nation, changed the world, saved the world, and we, as a result, unquestionably lead the world.

You see, when the USPTO grants patents and registers trademarks, we create a positive chain reaction; a butterfly effect.

A flywheel…

One person's inspiration will spur another's curiosity, and then further innovation and more curiosity, and so on, and so on.

And that's the beauty of both our system and America's Innovation Agency.

It is the ultimate Art of the Deal: Disclosure for Exclusivity; You make the patent bargain-you advance society.

And that bargain-a uniquely American bargain-remains at the heart of innovation policy still today. Why? Because ideas behave a lot like capital. They move toward environments that are predictable, well-protected, and capable of supporting long term investment.

Capital markets look for clear signals about where investment is most likely to flourish.

The very same holds true for the marketplace of ideas. Inventors invest when the rules are clear. Entrepreneurs take risks when the law is predictable. And innovators build when they know their ideas will be protected.

That confidence lies at the foundation of our innovation economy and, based upon that confidence, new IP is injected into the real economy.

Thanks to Secretary Lutnick, America's Innovation Agency is here again to stand tall and deliver again on our innovators' ambitions and the brilliant tomorrows that they build for us all, tinker by tinker, breakthrough by breakthrough, dream by dream.

This is the conversion of human ingenuity into a definable, translatable economic asset-and it's remarkable.

Every application we intake as entrusted stewards of tomorrow's ideas-be it trademark or patent-it matters not-represents an innovator bringing a new concept into the economic system, into the real economy, into the real world.

It is an amazing engine that has spectacularly spurred innovation and advanced society at a pace unmatched by any other country-or society in history-even to this day.

And the business of America is good. Very good. How good?

Well, patents are numbered sequentially, and in 1790, President George Washington signed the first U.S. patent.

In 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed U.S. Patent No. 10 Million…and when springtime comes next year, I look forward, together with you Mr. Secretary, to presenting President Trump for his signature U.S. Patent No. 13 Million.

By the numbers, that's 13 million new inventions, improvements, and advances in our quality of life since America was born-that the world would NEVER have otherwise seen. But for America. But for American ingenuity, and the USTPO being right there to protect it.

For more than two centuries, we have been at the heart of steam engines and steel, electricity and aviation, semiconductors and software, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.

And in marks of trade, red labels on cola, white mustaches of milk, and denim blue jeans.

Every piece of IP we put into circulation is a potential job, a new business, a competitive advantage, an investible asset. And is yet another win for both society and the Constitutional foresight of our Founders.

Fast forward to today, and the macro numbers are breath-taking.

After all, since we are at the Department of Commerce, let me recite some Commerce-worthy numbers for you.

In the U.S., IP intensive industries account for roughly 41 percent of U.S. economic output-estimated to be around $6.2 trillion dollars-and supports more than 63 million American jobs, as well as industries that power America's global trade competitiveness.

In fact, IP-intensive services account for about 31 percent of total U.S. Service EXPORTS, making them one of the largest contributors to the United States' global services SURPLUS.

That's what sets us apart.

That is exactly the core engine of American ingenuity driving economic growth at work.

And of course, our innovation policy is in lock-step with trade policy.

Thanks to Secretary Lutnick, if you are building here, manufacturing here, or investing in manufacturing here, you can be assured your intellectual property will be better protected here.

Critically, we have issued precedent that prevents foreign sovereigns and state actors from attacking U.S. patents in the U.S. patent office.

And we have issued guidance that provides favorable processing for U.S. small businesses, U.S. manufactures and anyone investing in U.S. manufacturing.

Here is where you want to be, here is where you want to build, here is where you can confidently grow.

The USPTO is robustly supporting the hundreds of billions of investment dollar pouring into U.S. manufacturing and building activity-ensuring that investment is protected by IP.

And I have promised Secretary Lutnick, when people come to his office and see his wall full of shovels, I will have hanging on the very same wall a born-strong patent right next to it-as the very reason why that shovel broke ground in the first place.

We are strengthening the business of America because we are strengthening the very patent bargain itself.

America's patent bargain means inventors can expect born-strong patents, born timely patents, and globally respected patents.

In his confirmation hearing, Secretary Lutnick, rightly termed the then patent backlog "unacceptable." Today, I'd delighted to report, we have flipped the script. The unexamined inventory of patents is at a 2-year low and we're driving it down faster and further than ever before.

For the first time in 10 years, the USPTO's cumulative output has surpassed cumulative filings within a fiscal year. We have even exceeded even our stretch goals in getting patents to market, knocking 9 months and counting off the time lag - with every WEEK a patent gets to market sooner increasing a U.S. company's value by approximately $35,000 on average. Per week.

And I'm further delighted to report, utilizing AI tools, we have 100 percent adoption in Trademarks business unit, and are closing in Patents, with 80% adoption, with almost 6,000 examiners having requested approximately 50,000 application summaries in less than 2 months.

And I'm still further delighted to report we've completely eliminated the Notice of Allowance backlog from 15,000 cases to zero. These patents are in the market and that backlog number will stay at zero.

As to Agentic AI, the numbers are even more breath-taking, with our Class ACT trademark tool, we've taken the time down from 5 months to literally 5 seconds, so that the marks are instantly searchable and have already analyzed a quarter million cases.

And we've improved the integrity of our processes, tackling fraud and abuse, removing close to 70,000 problematic trademark applications and approximately 8,000 patent applications clogging the pipes.

And because of Secretary Lutnick's vision and support, you know what we call that now at the USPTO??

We call it Monday.

We're just getting started, and day in and day out, we are proving that there is no better patent bargain-disclosure for exclusivity-than striking that bargain with America, there is no better business than the business of America, because there is no more powerful force for prosperity than innovation in America.

Thank you.

Remarks as delivered

John A. Squires

60th Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO

Unveiling of Secretary Howard W. Lutnick's Inventor Trading Card

Remarks given: 11:30 a.m. ET

I am incredibly honored, humbled and excited, especially in celebration of America's 250th year, to unveil Secretary Howard Lutnick's inventor trading card.

First, allow me to provide a little background: The USPTO's Inventor Collectible Trading Card Series started back in 2012 and is a collection that features inventors and their notable inventions that we use in hope of inspiring future innovators-the game changers of tomorrow.

We have featured in the Inventor Collectible Trading Card Series heroes like Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, Ray Dolby, Hedy Lamarr. Especially for America's 250th, we released a special edition of President George Washington, who signed America's very first U.S. patent in 1790.

Today, on July 23rd, 2026, I'm delighted to unveil Secretary Lutnick's card and welcome him, on behalf of America's Innovation Agency, to a very august group-legendary innovators in the history of our nation.

So, a few words first: To say Secretary Lutnick is a prolific inventor is a massive, massive understatement.
Now, we all know the Secretary Iikes math, so please considered these numbers.

Secretary Lutnick is a named inventor presently on 506 issued patents. In fact, in the time that I wrote my remarks from last week to this, his number went from 504 to 506.

I mean, it's like a power meter spinning with the holiday lights plugged in.

By comparison, Thomas Alva Edison was issued 1093.

Now, since the first U.S. patent was signed by George Washington in 1790, as I mentioned, only 146 inventors in the history of the United States were named on 500 or more patents.

This is out of over approximately 12,700,000 patents issued the history of our proud nation.

So, this makes Secretary Lutnick NOT a "1 percenter"-but a 1.14 thousandth of a 1 percenter.

In scientific notation that is 1.14 x 10 (-5).

And do you know what the sum total of patents is for the 40 previous Commerce Secretaries before Secretary Lutnick. Zero. Nada. Nil. Zilch.

His patents range the gamut from data processing systems to managing trading orders, to GUIs, gaming systems, interactive entertainment platforms, e-commerce platforms, file management systems, digital content, event driven conditions and have revolutionized financial services, internet delivery of services, and the way business is done itself.

I think it is safe to say, with his vision and seeing the future of financial services industry was born.

I can tell you, it certainly caught Goldman Sach's attention. And on the way, inspired me.

Following the decision in the State Street Bank Case vs. Signature Financial on the hub and spoke mutual fund system-all of us on Wall Street remember that…

I got a call from Steven Mnuchin who was Goldman Sachs CTO at the time and he hired me to get to the bottom of what was going on with this young head of Cantor who's getting all these patents on Wall Street. I'm mean patents on Wall Street? Wall Street just doesn't do patents.

Indeed, I met Fischer Black's of the Black-Scholes model's protégé's when I first came to Goldman and he told me he Fischer would never have dreamed of filing a patent. But then, Howard Lutnick saw an opportunity and broke the mold. And thank goodness he did, because he improved the financial services forever.

My report back to Steve Mnuchin was: you are seeing the future with eSpeed and BCG-and this future isn't zero sum. No, this future like free speech where the answer is more speech. He'll patent his inventions, we'll patent ours and then we'll do what Wall Street does best, with these new, new things, these non-priced alternative assets. We'll trade.

So, I think I'm on firm ground here, from both personal experience and being literally in the Wall Street room where it happened-Secretary Lutnick is the father of the industry today we all call Fintech.

And along with his brilliance, came courage. He inspired that inventive spark across his firm and in collaborative team, inspiring those who would be his co-inventors at Cantor Fitzgerald, as he relentlessly rebuilt Cantor following the World Trade Center attacks-with patents.

As his Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the USPTO, there could be no better suited, no more courageous, no more creative, no more passionate friend, supporter, advocate, or visionary to the importance of intellectual property, and what it means to all Americans. And of course, what that really and truly says about American Exceptionalism.

I am profoundly grateful for his incredible legacy of American ingenuity and his incredible embodiment of what a strong intellectual property system means to every American, and his incredible vision of how building the USPTO's intellectual property system of the future at the will propel prosperity and sustain American leadership globally like no nation before, like no nation ever, like no society in history.

Secretary Lutnick-
Is a remarkable man.
Is a remarkable American.
Is an historic American inventor…

[Unveils trading card]

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