Ep11 Tim’s Travails: An Invisible Public Servant is the month’s feature on Peter Fowler, former Senior Counsel, Office of Policy and International Affairs at the United States Patent and Trademark Office
March 2026 — This month on IP attorney and author Timothy Trainer’s podcast/video show we meet Peter Fowler, former Senior Counsel, Office of Policy and International Affairs at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Today’s Topic: An Invisible Public Servant — It’s the Mission
Tim asks Peter:
- As an advisor on copyright issues when you joined the USPTO, how much has copyright issues changed due to technology?
- What did you do to prepare to be an IP Attache?
- How does an IP Attache add value to US businesses operating abroad and the U.S. Government’s objectives?
- How has technology changed the way IP is protected and enforced?
Don’t miss it!
About our guest: Peter Fowler retired in January 2026 after more than 30 years at the USPTO. Initially, he worked on copyright issues and served as facilitator of the Conference on Fair Use (1995-1998), and later as agency Chief of Staff (1998-2002). During his long tenure at the USPTO, he filled various positions including Acting Deputy Administrator for External Affairs (2002, 2009-2010); Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director (2009-2011); and Regional Intellectual Property Attaché for Southeast Asia (2011-2017). He is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Region.
In addition, he served as a technical advisor to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on trade negotiations with Australia, Bahrain, Cambodia, Colombia, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, UAE, and Vietnam. He served on U.S. negotiating teams for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (now Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement); the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, and was a regular member of the U.S. delegation to the APEC IP Experts Group meetings.
Admitted to legal practice in California, he practiced copyright and entertainment law from 1985-1995 before joining the USPTO, and served as a Judge Pro Tem in the San Francisco courts from 1990-1995. He has authored law review articles on such topics as adult adoption; copyright and fair use, IP and trade; the history of IP protection in Southeast Asia; and the history of the Japan Patent Office-USPTO relationship.
Mr. Fowler has a B.A. in Political Science from John Carroll University; an M.A. in Political Science from Ball State University; an M.A. in Secondary Education from the University of Alabama; and a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law.
Photos of Tim by AnnaGibbs.com
About Tim’s Travails: In this podcast/video sereis, IP attorney and author Tim Trainer introduce us to experts around the country who have insight into the law, international trade, and more, to help us better understand our world in 2025 and beyond.
Tim, himself, fits the bill for he worked for three decades for the US government and private law firms focusing on international trade, and has developed a deep understanding of global economics and politics.
Writing books is his passion. The author of seven books as of 2025, he has penned several non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2020. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff. Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2017, Pendulum Over the Pacific was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains. In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection. In December 2024, he followed it with The China Factor.
Stay tuned for more episodes on InkandescentRadio.com and Inkandescent.tv, and of course, log in regularly for new blog entries and other information on Tim’s website, www.TimothyTrainer.com.
