David Kappos
Former under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the USPTO
IP Hall of Fame inductee in 2012
As the former under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the USPTO, David Kappos oversaw the introduction of the America Invents Act, the biggest change to patent law in the United States since the 19th century. Until his retirement as Director in 2013, Kappos worked tirelessly toward reducing the application backlog and raising the quality of patent grants, as well as introducing significant improvements to the USPTO’s IT infrastructure.
Prior to heading the USPTO, Kappos was vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property at IBM. Since 2013 he has held the position of partner at US law firm Cravath.