Sharon Barner knows patent law and policy from the perspective of a private lawyer, from inside the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and, most recently, from her position as general counsel of diesel engine manufacturer Cummins Inc.

After the Chicago-based lawyer led Foley & Lardner’s intellectual property department, Barner went into public service in 2009 as a deputy director of the USPTO, where she also served as deputy under secretary of commerce for IP.