Charles Duan is the director of the Patent Reform Project at Public Knowledge, a DC-based nonprofit organization that promotes the public interest in technology policy and supports strong patent reform that minimizes the impact of patent trolls and other abuses of the patent system that get in the way of new technologies. He works closely with lawmakers in Congress, the White House, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and other places, to ensure that patent law promotes innovation rather than overreaching and impeding technologists. He previously practiced as a patent attorney and also was a software developer at a Silicon Valley startup.