Rea, better known as Terry, left Crowell & Moring in 2011 to join the PTO as its deputy director just 10 days before the House passed its version of the America Invents Act, and she spent her tenure at the PTO negotiating, drafting and implementing the landmark patent law before leaving the agency in 2013 as its acting director.

She returned to private practice at Crowell in November 2013 as a partner and a director with its affiliate consulting firm C&M International Ltd., and she continues to play an active role in international patent policy.

David Kappos, now a partner at Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, was director of the USPTO during Rea's tenure as deputy. He calls her his partner in devising the PTO policies and practices that put the AIA into place and says Rea was the leader in designing and implementing the "hugely successful" Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Rea always displayed a masterful understanding of patent issues and how they affected stakeholders across the spectrum, Kappos says, and she knew how to connect with the diverse groups that had a role in developing the AIA.

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