At the Spring 2012 International Management and Delegates Meeting in Auckland, a decision was made to recruit and retain our first senior level Executive Director. Chris J. Katopis has now accepted this newly created position.

The Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) continues to grow as an organization, furthering its mission and support to its 32 local Societies and the more than 11,000 individual members which they represent.  In recent years, LESI relied upon our administrative manager and the larger LES USA / Canada staff to support the work of the LESI Board and its committees.  At the Spring 2012 International Management and Delegates Meeting in Auckland, a decision was made to recruit and retain our first senior level Executive Director.  I am writing to share with you the great news that Chris J. Katopis has now accepted this newly created position. 

Chris is uniquely qualified for the position of LESI Executive Director having most recently been the Executive Director of AMI, a non-profit trade association focusing on financial and business issues, as well as Counsel and Director of Global IP Policy for the Computing Technology Industry Association in Washington D.C.  Chris is a patent attorney by training having worked in the Washington Office of Drinker Biddle & Reath.  He was a Law Clerk to the Hon. Pauline Newman at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and a legal advisor for seven years to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property.  For three years Chris was a member of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office executive management team as Director of Congressional Relations.  Chris’ combination of association, PTO, legislative and IP experience is remarkable.

Please join me in welcoming Chris to the LES community!

Jim