Coke Morgan Stewart is the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Most recently, Ms. Stewart served as Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO, where she led one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world—almost a $5 billion operation with over 14,000 employees located across the 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Ms. Stewart worked at the USPTO for 10 years, from 2011 to 2021, and re-joined the agency on January 20, 2025. During her tenure at the USPTO, Coke served in many important roles, including as Acting Deputy Under Secretary and Acting Deputy Director, Acting Chief of Staff, Counsel to the Director, Senior Policy Advisor, Acting Deputy Solicitor, and Associate Solicitor. She was honored with numerous awards, including “Litigator of the Year” and Special Act Awards for her work supporting the agency during the pandemic and the 2020-2021 presidential transition.

Ms. Stewart has a distinguished career in IP litigation. She has handled 70 appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She has advised the Department of Justice Civil Appellate Staff and the Office of the Solicitor General on dozens of patent, trademark, and copyright cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ms. Stewart most recently practiced law at O’Melveny & Myers LLP in the Intellectual Property and Technology group. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia, supervising 150 attorneys and professionals in the areas of healthcare, education, and social services, and overseeing hundreds of active federal and state court cases and internal investigations. Prior to her Deputy Attorney General role, she taught Appellate Advocacy at the Regent University School of Law.