# List of people who have headed the United States Patent Office

Following is a list of persons who have headed the United States Patent Office. The title associated with this function has changed over time, from Superintendent of Patents to Commissioner of Patents to Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. The duties of the office have also evolved significantly, including coming to encompass the supervision of trademark issuance as well as that of patents.
| Patent Office Head | Patent Office Head | Began service | Ended service |
| Commissioners for the Promotion of Useful Arts or Patent Board ||||
| | Edmund Randolph Henry Knox Thomas Jefferson | 1790 | 1793 |
| Secretary of State ||||
| | Edmund Randolph | 1794 | 1795 |
| | Timothy Pickering | 1795 | May 12, 1800 |
| | John Marshall | May 13, 1800 | March 4, 1801 |
| | James Madison | March 5, 1801 | 1802 |
| Superintendent of Patents ||||
| | William Thornton | June 1, 1802 | March 28, 1828 |
| | Thomas P. Jones | April 12, 1828 | June 10, 1829 |
| | John D. Craig | June 11, 1829 | February 1, 1835 |
| | James Chamberlayne Pickett | February 1, 1835 | May 1835 |
| Commissioner of Patents (Patent Act of July 4, 1836) ||||
| | Henry Leavitt Ellsworth | July 8, 1835 | April 1, 1845 |
| | Edmund Burke | May 4, 1845 | 1849 |
| | Thomas Ewbank | May 9, 1849 | 1852 |
| | Silas H. Hodges | November 8, 1852 | 1853 |
| | Charles Mason | May 16, 1853 | August 5, 1857 |
| | Joseph Holt | September 10, 1857 | Mar 1859 |
| | William D. Bishop | May 27, 1859 | 1860 |
| | Philip Francis Thomas | February 16, 1860 | December 10, 1860 |
| | David P. Holloway | March 28, 1861 | 1865 |
| | Thomas Clarke Theaker | August 17, 1865 | January 20, 1868 |
| | Elisha Foote | July 29, 1868 | Mar 1869 |
| | Samuel S. Fisher | April 26, 1869 | November 10, 1870 |
| | Mortimer Dormer Leggett | January 16, 1871 | 1874 |
| | John M. Thacher | November 4, 1874 | October 1, 1875 |
| | R. Holland Duell | October 1, 1875 | 1877 |
| | Ellis Spear | January 30, 1877 | 1878 |
| | Halbert E. Paine | November 1, 1878 | 1880 |
| | Edgar M. Marble | May 7, 1880 | 1883 |
| | Benjamin Butterworth | November 1, 1883 | 1885 |
| | Martin V. Montgomery | March 23, 1885 | 1887 |
| | Benton Jay Hall | April 12, 1887 | 1889 |
| | Charles Elliott Mitchell | April 1, 1889 | 1891 |
| | William E. Simonds | August 1, 1891 | 1892 |
| | John S. Seymour | March 31, 1893 | 1897 |
| | Benjamin Butterworth | April 7, 1897 | 1898 |
| | Charles Holland Duell | February 3, 1898 | 1901 |
| | Frederick Innes Allen | April 11, 1901 | 1907 |
| | Edward Bruce Moore | 1907 | 1913 |
| | Thomas Ewing III | 1913 | 1917 |
| | James T. Newton | 1917 | 1920 |
| | Robert Frederick Whitehead | 1920 | 1921 |
| | Melvin H. Coulston | 1921 | 1921 |
| | Thomas E. Robertson | 1921 | 1933 |
| | Conway Peyton Coe | 1933 | September 14, 1945 |
| | Casper W. Ooms | September 15, 1945 | 1947 |
| | Lawrence C. Kingsland | 1947 | 1949 |
| | John A. Marzall | 1949 | 1953 |
| | Robert C. Watson | 1953 | 1961 |
| | David Ladd | 1961 | 1963 |
| | Edward J. Brenner | 1964 | 1969 |
| | William E. Schuyler Jr. | 1969 | 1971 |
| | Robert Gottschalk | 1972 | 1973 |
| Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks (PL 93-596 of January 2, 1975) ||||
| | C. Marshall Dann | 1974 | 1977 |
| | Donald W. Banner | 1978 | 1979 |
| | Sidney A. Diamond | 1979 | 1981 |
| Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks (Public Law 97-366 of October 25, 1982) ||||
| | Gerald J. Mossinghoff | 1981 | 1985 |
| | Donald J. Quigg | 1985 | 1990 |
| | Harry F. Manbeck Jr. | 1990 | 1992 |
| | Bruce Lehman | August 5, 1993 | 1998 |
| Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (American Inventor’s Protection Act of November 29, 1999) ||||
| | Q. Todd Dickinson | 1998 | January 19, 2001 |
| | Nicholas P. Godici (acting) | January 2001 | November 30, 2001 |
| | James E. Rogan | December 10, 2001 | January 9, 2004 |
| | Jon Dudas | 2004 | November 14, 2008 |
| | John J. Doll (acting) | November 15, 2008 | August 12, 2009 |
| | David Kappos | August 13, 2009 | January 31, 2013 |
| | Teresa Stanek Rea (acting) | February 1, 2013 | January 12, 2014 |
| | Michelle K. Lee | January 13, 2014 | June 7, 2017 |
| | Joseph Matal (acting) | June 7, 2017 | February 8, 2018 |
| | Andrei Iancu | February 8, 2018 | January 19, 2021 |
| | Drew Hirshfeld (performing the duties of director) | January 19, 2021 | April 13, 2022 |
| | Kathi Vidal | April 13, 2022 | December 13, 2024 |
| | Derrick Brent (acting) | December 16, 2024 | January 20, 2025 |
| | Coke Morgan Stewart (acting) | January 20, 2025 | Present |