Duke Law School professor Arti Rai -- an expert in patent law, administrative law and legal issues facing the biopharmaceutical industry -- is expected to be named administrator for external affairs at the Patent and Trademark Office, sources close to the issue told Tech Daily Dose on Tuesday. The position, which has been vacant for some time, oversees domestic and international policy and intergovernmental relations for the agency. Officials at the PTO, Commerce Department and White House officials would not confirm or deny the report.

Rai was a classmate of President Obama's at Harvard Law School and she served as a member of the agency review team on science, technology, space, arts and humanities as part of administration's transition project. Her current research on innovation policy in areas such as green technology, drug development, and software is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Kauffman Foundation, and Chatham House, according to her Duke bio. Rai has testified in the Senate on innovation policy and, before entering academia, clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of California and was a litigation associate at Jenner & Block.