BONITA SPRINGS, Fla., Nov. 12, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Former United States Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos has been appointed special advisor to the Board of ipCreate (http://www.ipcreateinc.com), the company announced today.
The Honorable David Kappos is the latest in a string of high-profile leaders in the intellectual property business field who have taken on roles involving the Board and Executive ranks of ipCreate, an Invention On Demand® company that partners with global technology firms to create patented inventions to complement their own internal R&D efforts. Others include Marshall Phelps, who previously led the worldwide patent operations of both IBM and Microsoft; Peter Holden, who joined ipCreate as President and Board member and is regarded as one of the industry's top dealmakers; Ruud J. Peters, the former Executive VP & Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Koninklijke Philips N.V.; and Robert Armitage, former Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Eli Lilly & Company and one of the foremost leaders of the intellectual property bar. With Kappos' appointment, ipCreate's Board now enjoys guidance from four members of the Intellectual Property Hall of Fame.
"We are deeply honored to welcome David Kappos as senior advisor to our Board," said ipCreate CEO John Cronin. "As a hugely-respected figure in the intellectual property field and the driving force behind the passage and implementation of the landmark 2011 America Invents Act, his insights will prove invaluable as we expand our invention partnerships to all corners of the globe."
Noted Mr. Kappos: "I am truly honored and excited at the prospect of helping ipCreate to revitalize the original mission of the patent system, which is all about invention."
Kappos is a partner with New York-based law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. He is considered one of the world's foremost leaders in the field of intellectual property and an authority on IP management and strategy, the development of global intellectual property norms, laws and practices, and the commercialization and enforcement of innovation-based assets. In 2012, Kappos was inducted into the Intellectual Property Hall of Fame and named one of the 50 most influential people in IP by Managing IP magazine. He was also named Intellectual Property Professional of the Year by the Intellectual Property Owners Association in 2011.
Following his 2009 appointment by President Barack Obama and confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Kappos served as Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the USPTO until February 1 of last year. He is widely credited with reforming the USPTO operations and overseeing one of the most productive periods in the office's history, which included comprehensive rulemaking and extensive public engagement.
Prior to joining the USPTO, Kappos spent more than 25 years with IBM, the world's largest IP holder. He joined the company in 1983 as a development engineer and eventually rose to the rank of Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for Intellectual Property, with responsibility for managing the firm's global IP activities.
Kappos earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Davis, and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley.
About ipCreate
ipCreate is the world's premiere Invention On Demand® company, partnering with global technology companies to create off-budget patented inventions that complement their own internal R&D efforts. Working with select leaders of industries undergoing rapid technological disruption, ipCreate employs proprietary tools and resources to identify promising innovation areas and then rapidly create foundational patents at the chokepoints of looming market change. The company expects to fund and execute more than 100 strategic invention and IP creation projects and produce thousands of foundational patents.
For more information, please contact:
Kathryn Lampron at (917) 881-9015 or klampron(at)ipcreateinc(dot)com
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