Michelle Lee, who until July was running Google the firm’s patent strategy, has been named the deputy director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, and will run the agency until a new director is appointed.

Former Google Inc (NSQ:GOOG) executive Michelle Lee has been named deputy director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and will run the agency until a new director is named, the agency said on Wednesday. Lee is a former deputy general counsel and head of patents and patent strategy at Google, the search engine giant.