David J. Kappos is a partner in Cravath’s Corporate department and is Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Practice. He is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost leaders in the field of intellectual property, including intellectual property management and strategy, the development of global intellectual property norms, laws and practices as well as commercialization and enforcement of innovation-based assets.
Mr. Kappos supports Cravath’s clients with a wide range of their most complex intellectual property issues, including those pertaining to blockchain, cryptoassets and fintech, as well as cybersecurity and data privacy.
From August 2009 to January 2013, Mr. Kappos served as Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Prior to leading the USPTO, Mr. Kappos served as the litigation counsel, Asia Pacific IP counsel and, from 2003 to 2009, Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Lawyer for IBM.
Mr. Kappos serves on the Boards of Directors of the Partnership for Public Service, the Center for Global Enterprise and the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation and on the Advisory Board for C-IP2. He is the Chair of the Advisory Council of the Naples Roundtable and is a Co-Chair of the Best Practices in Intellectual Property Conference. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Cornell Law School, where he co-teaches a class entitled “High Growth Transactions.”