Here are several important, national patent and trademark stories:

• Via Patent Docs (which has a new web address — http://www.patentdocs.org) a new patent reform bill (perhaps the first of three) may be issued as early as Monday, March 2 — click here to read the Patent Docs post.
• President Obama has nominated Gary Locke to be the next Secretary of Commerce, which would  put Locke in charge of the PTO.  Locke, formerly the Governor of the state of Washington, is currently a partner in Davis Wright Tremaine’s Seattle office.  For more on the appointment from the Chicago Tribune’s Swamp blog, click here.  In his speech announcing the nomination, President Obama pointed out that among Locke’s many impressive credentials and accomplishments, he is an Eagle Scout.  As an Eagle myself, I am always glad to see another succeed.