David "Dave" J. Kappos (born March 3, 1961) is an attorney and former government official who served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 2009 to 2013. Kappos is currently a partner at New York law firm

Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is an American white-shoe law firm with its headquarters in New York City, and an additional office in London. The firm is known for its complex and high profile litigation and mergers & acquisitions ...

. Prior to being confirmed to the post by the U.S. Senate on August 7, 2009,USPTO web site
''David Kappos Confirmed as Patent and Trademark Office Director''
, August 7, 2009. Consulted on August 10, 2009. Kappos was the vice president and assistant general counsel, intellectual property law, for IBM Corporation.''President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts''
The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, June 18, 2009. Kappos announced his intent to step down from the position in late January 2013. His final day in office was February 1, 2013. He was succeeded by Teresa Stanek Rea as Acting Under Secretary and Acting Director.

Early life and education

Kappos was born March 3, 1961, in Palos Verdes, California. He is the grandson of immigrants from Greece. Kappos received his Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering from the

University of California-Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

in 1983, and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990.

Career

IBM career

He joined IBM in 1983 as a development engineer and has served in a variety of roles before taking his last position at IBM, including intellectual property law attorney in IBM's Storage Division and Litigation group, IP Law Counsel in IBM's Software Group, assistant general counsel for IBM Asia/Pacific, IBM Corporate Counsel and assistant general counsel. David Kappos being sworn as USPTO Director (2009-08-13)

David Kappos being sworn as USPTO Director (2009-08-13)

USPTO tenure

Kappos became Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and USPTO Director in August 2009. In this capacity, he was a chief negotiator in the passage and implementation of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act; signed into law by President Barack Obama in September 2011. The legislation represents the most significant legislative change to the U.S. patent system since the Patent Act of 1952. During his tenure, the USPTO's backlog dropped from over 770,000 to under 668,500 between 2009 and 2012. In November 2012, it was reported that Kappos intended to retire from the role in 2013, and he left office on February 1, 2013.

Post-USPTO career

After leaving the USPTO, Kappos joined the law firm of

, where he advises clients on intellectual property matters relating to corporate

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

and fintech. He is also an adjunct professor of copyright litigation at Columbia Law School, and of legal advising for start up general counsel at

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

Recognition

In 2016, he was named one of the “Top 25 Icons of IP” by

Law360 Law360 is a subscription-based, legal news service based in New York City. It is operated by Portfolio Media, Inc., a subsidiary of LexisNexisSabroski, Suzxanne (May 1, 2012) LexisNexis goes 360, ''Onliline'' and delivers breaking news and analys ...

. In 2014, he was listed as one of ''

The National Law Journal ''The National Law Journal'' (NLJ) is an American legal periodical founded in 1978. The NLJ was created by Jerry Finkelstein, who envisioned it as a "sibling newspaper" of the ''New York Law Journal''. Originally a tabloid-sized weekly newspape ...

s inaugural “Top 50 Intellectual Property Trailblazers & Pioneers”. Kappos was inducted into the Intellectual Property Hall of Fame by ''

Intellectual Asset Management ''Intellectual Asset Management'' (''IAM'') is a bimonthlyIntellectual Asset Management web site''Frequently asked questions'' Retrieved 10 February 2010. magazine published in English and focused on "intellectual property from a business point ...

'' magazine in 2012. He serves on the boards of directors of the

Partnership for Public Service The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C. whose mission is to inspire a new generation of civil servants and to transform the way government works. The Partnership's most visible program ...

, the Center for Global Enterprise and the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation. Kappos is also the chair of the Advisory Council of the Naples Roundtable and the chair of the U.S.-China IP Cooperation Dialogue.

References

External links

David J. Kappos
biography at

* David Kappos Senate confirmation proceedings. * Transcript, David Kappos Senate confirmation hearing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kappos, David J. 1961 births Living people Under Secretaries of Commerce for Intellectual Property IBM employees University of California, Davis alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni American patent attorneys People from Palos Verdes, California Cravath, Swaine & Moore people American people of Greek descent