Our client, a professional intellectual property platform and services company headquartered in Silicon Valley and with a presence in Europe and Asia, has exclusively retained Solutus Legal Search to assist its executives in hiring a Chief Intellectual Property Counsel.

Our client serves the global technology industry through focused patent aggregation, licensing programs, and consulting and expert services.  The Company’s vision is to optimize the global high-tech intellectual property environment to be efficient, respected, and balanced. This will allow technology companies to have predictable, low-cost design freedom and will provide fair and just compensation to innovators who create impactful patented inventions.  The Company is well funded, has a core team of highly experienced business, intellectual property, and legal experts, and is rapidly growing across all aspects of its business.

The Opportunity:

Our client is looking for a Chief Intellectual Property Counsel with significant intellectual property licensing and litigation expertise to join its dynamic executive leadership team. This position reports directly to the President. This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to make an enormous impact as the company rapidly expands to achieve its mission of creating an equitable platform for companies to share and license intellectual property while providing thought leadership to the broader technology and intellectual property marketplace.

This role will manage a team and requires all of the typical Chief Intellectual Property duties, with an emphasis on portfolio evaluation, acquisition, and monetization, and a deep understanding of the business drivers and success metrics in the innovation and intellectual property service environment, and the ability to deliver results amidst ambiguity and rapid growth.

The ideal candidate will have both law firm and in-house experience and will be based in the Bay Area or Los Angeles/Orange County.  The Company will, however, consider excellent candidates located elsewhere in the US.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead and manage the overall global intellectual property strategy, function and operations for the company and provide advice and counsel to the President, CEO, Board, and executives of the company across a wide range of intellectual property matters.
• In close coordination with the President and EVP, IP Strategy, oversee and manage all patent litigation, patent licensing, patent acquisitions and related activities.
• Lead and manage patent and technical analysis for patent acquisition activities.  This includes helping to make quick initial decisions on portfolios and managing the IP team and evaluation process to ensure a timely and efficient portfolio evaluation.
• Support global enforcement strategies, law firm selection and management, and pricing and valuation.  Build and manage relationships with top-tier law firms and financiers.
• Support licensing projects and programs, including performing a comprehensive initial evaluation of a portfolio, developing the patent case for licensing discussions, managing discussions with law firms when there is a need to litigate, and leading technical discussions with potential licensees.  Manage others on the IP team in association with these projects to ensure they are performed efficiently.
• Drive portfolio strategy to maximize shareholder value. Set the vision and decision-making framework for patent acquisition and monetization activities, ensuring rapid, data-driven portfolio evaluations. Align IP strategy with corporate growth objectives and deliver measurable revenue and value creation for the company.
• Establish and oversee global enforcement, licensing, and litigation programs to optimize recoveries and secure high-value agreements. Direct outside counsel, financiers, and internal teams to execute programs efficiently, minimizing risk while maximizing licensing outcomes and cash flow.
• Develop and manage a network of technical and legal experts.
• Develop relationships with patent owners and intermediaries and develop new licensing partnerships for the business.

BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE:

• 20+ years of intellectual property experience, with at least 15+ years of legal experience advising technology companies in-house and at law firms.
• Experience with intellectual property litigation, including selecting and managing litigation counsel worldwide, managing complex patent litigation and experience with litigation funding. Active license to practice before the USPTO and PTAB, ADR, and mediation experience is preferred.
• Experience with IP licensing and acquisitions worldwide.
• Experience with patent evaluation, including the use of AI tools, and developing claim charts and other materials necessary to support licensing programs.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to provide clear and concise, business-oriented legal advice and to distill complex situations into actionable recommendations.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; must have the ability to work with a wide range of people in a collaborative and constructive manner, including with members of the board, executive, licensing, research and innovation, finance, and operations.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage numerous projects in parallel and to consistently meet deadlines.
• Juris Doctor degree from an ABA-accredited law school and active bar license in good standing in the state where you currently reside.

The target base salary range is $260,000 – $275,000 plus a target annual bonus of 25%-30%.  The total compensation package will vary and depend on the candidate’s qualifications and number of years of directly relevant experience. The successful candidate will also be eligible to participate in a significant per-transaction revenue share program and to receive equity in the Company.

Solutus has been selected as the exclusive representative on this desirable search. Resumes submitted directed to our client will be forwarded to Solutus for review and evaluation.