Michelle Lee.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Michelle Lee, the first woman to ever hold the position, resigned on Tuesday.

Lee was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2014, and after the 2016 presidential election, she announced she was "open" to staying on. It was unclear for several months if Lee, the former head of Google's patent practice, was still director; the Patent Office finally confirmed in March that Lee remained in the post. There was no reason given for Lee's resignation, nor an announcement on who might serve as acting director.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.