Bruce M. Kisliuk is a senior patent advisor in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he is a member of the patents and innovations practice. A former senior executive at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Bruce has more than 30 years of intellectual property experience.

Prior to joining the firm, Bruce was the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Administration from 2012 to 2015, where he served as the Patent Organization's chief financial officer and oversaw the formulation and execution of the organization's $1.7 billion budget. He also oversaw all aspects of the Patent Organization's information technology management, partnering with the chief information officer to develop patent examiner systems and examination tools. In addition, Bruce oversaw customer outreach activities, specifically targeting intellectual property education and support for independent inventors, universities, and small businesses. In 2013, he led the agency's implementation of the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system, a new global patent classification system bilaterally developed and operated by the USPTO and the European Patent Office.

Bruce previously served as the Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations from 2008 to 2012, during which time he oversaw multiple Technology Centers—including Chemical Technology Centers 1600 and 1700, Electrical Technology Centers 2600 and 2800, and Mechanical Technology Centers 3600 and 3700—and was responsible for all aspects of their patent examining operations, practices, and procedures. In 2009, he was a key executive member of the task force that developed the first substantive changes to the patent-examiner credit system in more than 30 years. He also led the USPTO's international work-sharing efforts and the expansion of the Patent Prosecution Highway program, doubling its usage for two consecutive years.

Prior to becoming Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Bruce was the group director for Technology Center 1600, where he oversaw the examination of biotechnology, organic chemistry, and pharmaceutical patent applications. He developed and led the USPTO's first patent examining nanotechnology-related initiatives, which included the creation of a new nanotechnology classification area. Earlier in his career, he was an executive assistant to the Commissioner for Patents and a supervisory patent examiner for mechanical technologies, including medical devices.

Before joining the USPTO as a patent examiner, Bruce was an engineer at Gulf Oil Corporation.