President Trump issued an executive order on August 28, 2025, excluding the USPTO Patents business unit from Chapter 71 federal labor-management protections. The order specifically adds the Office of the Commissioner for Patents and subordinate units to the list of excluded agencies. The exclusion terminates bargaining rights for the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) and ends collective bargaining agreements that covered telework and performance-evaluation procedures. The order invokes 5 U.S.C. § 7103(b)(1) based on a determination that Patents and OCIO perform primary national security work. Acting USPTO leadership stated the exclusion renders federal labor protections inconsistent with national security and took immediate effect.
In a significant labor relations development that will reshape working conditions for thousands of patent examiners, President Trump issued an executive order on August 28, 2025, excluding the USPTO's entire Patents business unit from federal collective bargaining protections. The order, titled "Further Exclusions from the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program," adds "Office of the Commissioner for Patents and subordinate units, Patent and Trademark Office" to the list of agencies excluded from Chapter 71 of Title 5, United States Code (the federal labor-management relations statute).
The executive order relies on the President's authority under 5 U.S.C. § 7103(b)(1), which permits excluding agencies or subdivisions when the President determines they have "as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work" and that Chapter 71 "cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations." According to Acting USPTO Director Coke Morgan Stewart's internal message to staff, "the administration has determined that the Patents business unit and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) business unit have 'as a primary function . . . national security work,'" rendering federal labor protections inconsistent with national security considerations.
Collection
[
|
...
]