WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed John Squires, a former chief intellectual property attorney at banking giant Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab, to lead the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under Republican President Donald Trump.

Squires will head the USPTO as it faces increasing competition with China on innovation and novel questions about the role of artificial intelligence in inventing. His confirmation also follows an unprecedented order from the U.S. Department of Commerce to review and potentially seize patents from Harvard University amid a White House pressure campaign over alleged failures to address campus antisemitism.