Maria Holtman

Maria specialises in increasing efficiencies in the patent system through business process and IT system improvements. As former Associate Commissioner for International Cooperation at the USPTO, Maria created strategic partnerships with IP leaders in both government and the private sector. She focused on improving efficiency in global patent examination by developing common procedures and IT tools used by the largest IP offices. She negotiated work sharing agreements between IP offices, led the creation of the Global Dossier, and expanded the Patent Prosecution Highway, an accelerated examination programme now available at over 50 IP offices. She was on the executive governance board for the Cooperative Classification (CPC) system and was responsible for CPC quality assurance.

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Prior to joining the USPTO, Maria was a programme manager for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. As a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young, she led large-scale IT and business process improvement projects at Fortune 100 corporations. Maria started her career at AT&T designing software products and serving as a technical expert for international mergers and acquisitions. She is a founding partner of CPS Patent International.