Tech and government don’t always mix well, but the new Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Michelle K. Lee, is aiming to change that — starting with her swearing-in, which took place onstage at SXSW. She sees her role as a true public servant, using her extensive Silicon Valley legal and technical expertise to advocate for entrepreneurs and innovators among the leaders of Washington, D.C.

In an interview with Jeff Frick as part of the theCUBE’s “Women in Tech” series, Lee described her shift from engineering into law and government. “I wanted to work on cutting-edge issues in law,” she said. “I wanted to help companies, innovative companies, protect their inventions and help them commercialize it in the marketplace.” After graduating from Stanford Law School, she worked in Silicon Valley for over two decades, representing everyone from small start-ups to big companies like Google.

After working for so many hig- profile companies, Lee wanted to give back to the country that had given her so many opportunities. “I firmly believe in each of us giving back to the country, to our country.” But more than that, Lee wanted to make a difference. Her decision was based on “the desire to both give back and to have an impact on some issues that are very important to this country at this time.”

Staying at the forefront of technological change

It’s an ongoing challenge for a government agency to regulate such a rapidly changing field, but Lee’s outlook was optimistic. “It’s a great problem to have,” she said. “We are lucky to be living in a country that is as innovative as it is and that is moving as quickly as it is in creating new inventions and ideas. I love the fact that we get all different kinds of technologies evolving so quickly and that our examiners have to deal with it.”

The agency partners with the public to stay on top of the changes, even inviting technical experts to help train its examiners in how new technology works so they can stay at the forefront of technological change.

Nurturing and promoting innovation

Lee’s ultimate goal is to help sustain and foster the community she grew up in and help it succeed through policy, outreach and support.

“Growing up in the Silicon Valley, we had the incentives that nurture and promote the innovation that we see,” she said. “And you can’t take it for granted that will continue to occur in the future. You have to make sure you actively manage it and that our policies are right. So the ability to contribute to that and help play a part in ensuring that we have an innovative society where intellectual property continues to incentivize innovation for future generations is pretty important work.”

Photo by SiliconANGLE