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Senate to confirm Patent nominee By Mario Trujillo The Senate is slated to approve the first female director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Monday. Michelle Lee, a former Google executive, was nominated for the post in October. She currently serves as acting director; the office has been without a confirmed leader since January 2013. Along with Lee, the Senate will vote to approve Daniel Henry Marti to be the White House’s intellectual property enforcement coordinator, a post created in 2008 to tackle enforcement issues across agencies. Marti’s position has been vacant since August 2013. Both nominees underwent two rounds of testimony and were favorably reported out of the Judiciary Committee earlier this year. Lee faced questions about the office’s telework program, which came under fire last summer amid allegations of waste and abuse. She also endorsed a congressional fix on patent reform and vowed to improve the quality of patents that are first approved by the office. One of the few criticisms came from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who wanted specific answers on Lee’s views about key pieces of patent reform legislation. On Monday at 5 p.m., the Senate will take up a roll-call vote on Marti’s nomination, while Lee is expected to be approved by voice vote. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled, “How much for a song?: The antitrust decrees that govern the market for music.” The panel will hear from representatives from Pandora and from various music publisher and songwriter associations, as well as Public Knowledge. On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on progress made by FirstNet, the government organization set up in 2012 to build a nationwide broadband network to help first responders communicate. Witnesses will discuss the project’s progress and the organization’s long-term plans to become self-sustaining. Witnesses from FirstNet and the Commerce Department could also face questions about a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report last year that raised concerns about the board’s financial disclosure policies. Commerce Department deputy secretary Bruce Andrews, Mark Goldstein of the GAO, FirstNet Chairwoman Susan Swenson, Commerce inspector general Todd Zinser and Keith Bryant, who leads the International Association of Fire Chiefs, will be testifying at the hearing. Next Thursday, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will testify before the Senate Commerce subcommittee on space regarding the agency’s 2016 budget. RECENT STORIES: GOP introduces bill to block Internet rules Netflix accused of changing its tune on Internet rules Dem senator looking to slow ‘patent troll’ debate Hillary’s emails ‘not technically illegal’ Washington to blame if NSA program lapses, spy head warns

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