David Gooder appointed USPTO Commissioner for Trademarks

The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently announced that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has appointed David Gooder to be the new Commissioner for Trademarks. As Commissioner, Gooder will be responsible for oversight of all aspects of the USPTO’s Trademarks organization.

Gooder has worked for more than 25 years on intellectual property and brand protection challenges facing iconic global brands. Gooder will begin his new role on March 2, 2020. Most recently, Gooder served as Chief Trademark Counsel for Brown-Forman Corporation, which owns over 30 distilled spirits and wine brands. In that position, Gooder directed the company’s global intellectual property work, including managing its large trademark portfolio, rights clearance, brand protection (including anti-counterfeiting), licensing, and entertainment deals for the brands. He also served as Managing Director and Chief Trademark Counsel at Jack Daniel’s Properties. Prior to that, Gooder practiced trademark, copyright, and entertainment law at Graham & James in Los Angeles and Luce Forward in San Diego.

Gooder has been an Officer and Director for the International Trademark Association (INTA). He also served as Chairman of the INTA Foundation. Gooder was a founding architect and Director of the International Federation of Spirits Producers (IFSP), the distilled spirits industry’s anti-counterfeiting alliance. He served on the Board of IFSP for 14 years and was its Chairman for 10 of those years.