Patent Office Professional Association
The Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) is a professional union of United States patent examiners. It was formed in 1964.[1] "Professional Representation for Patent Professionals."
POPA represents all patent office professionals at the US Patent and Trademark Office including:
- Patent Attorneys at the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI)
- Non-supervisory attorneys and Congressional Affairs Specialists in the Office of External Affairs (OEA)
- Petitions attorneys in the Office of Petitions
- Review Quality Assurance Specialists (rQAS) in the Office of Patent Quality Assurance (OPQA)
- Designated Training Quality Assurance Specialists (tQAS)
- Non-supervisory patent examiners and primary examiners
- Non-supervisory Patent Reexamination Specialists in the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU)
- Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) examiners and attorney advisors
- Certain librarians and accountants