Below is a list of IIPI’s Washington, DC-based staff, and partners. Additionally, the Institute cooperates with experts and partners around the globe to execute its mission. The combination of diverse networks and skill sets from the staff allows IIPI to foster economic growth throughout the world.
Staff
Honorable Bruce A. Lehman
Chairman and President
blehman@iipi.org
For the past 44 years, Bruce Lehman has practiced law, advised lawmakers and made policy at the local, state, national and international levels in various capacities as a public servant, diplomat, attorney, and nonprofit executive. While he is best known for his role in shaping the development of intellectual property law both nationally and globally, his long career also included significant contributions in the areas of civil liberties, national security, health policy and public administration.
Currently, he devotes much of his time to the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) where he serves as board chairman. IIPI is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, based in Washington, D.C. which he founded in December 1998. The Institute is a think tank and development organization that promotes the creation of modern intellectual property systems and the use of intellectual property rights as a mechanism for investment, technology transfer and the creation of wealth in all countries of the world. In addition to his work with IIPI, Mr. Lehman serves as Senior Advisor to 1624 Capital, LLC, an investment fund specializing in patents and is a member of the Legal Advisory Council of LegalZoom, an Internet-based provider of legal tools for individuals and small businesses. Also, he is counsel to several artists’ rights groups that seek meaningful copyright protection for visual artists. In that capacity, he has drafted legislation, advised Congress and filed Supreme Court amicus briefs on behalf of fair copyright protection for visual artists.
Very early in his career, prior to military service during the Vietnam War, Mr. Lehman served as legal counsel to the Wisconsin State Legislature, advising the state senate and house of representatives on matters as diverse as municipal law, the organization of state appellate courts, and regulation of nuclear power generating facilities. After military service, he received an appointment as a trial attorney in the honors program of the United States Department of Justice.
At the age of 28, he was appointed by Chairman Peter Rodino to be counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives upon the recommendation of Congressman Robert W. Kastenmeier, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Administration of Justice. Mr. Lehman’s service with the Committee began at the outset of that committee’s proceeding leading to a recommendation of impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
While he played a supporting role in the impeachment matter, Mr. Lehman was immediately given responsibility for advising the committee on intellectual property legislation, beginning with drafting the patent policy provisions of the Non-Nuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974. He organized hearings and drafted legislation that eventually resulted in major reforms of the U.S. Patent System, including: the Bayh-Dole Act, creation of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the initiation of computerized examination of patent applications at the USPTO, elevating the USPTO to sub-cabinet status, and giving the USPTO financial stability as a fully fee-funded agency. During his service with the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Lehman also organized public hearings and worked with his Senate counterparts and the Register of Copyrights, Barbara Ringer, to draft the legislation that after an effort spanning two decades, was enacted into law as the 1976 Copyright Act. Mr. Lehman’s mentor, Chairman Kastenmeier, was the author of that landmark legislation.
In addition to his work on patent and copyright legislation, Mr. Lehman was assigned responsibility for oversight and legislative reforms directed at reconciling the long-standing conflict, identified by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. U.S. District Court, 407 U.S. 279 (1972), between the President’s national securities powers and the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. After supervising an oversight investigation that documented instances of warrantless wiretapping by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Lehman advised the Committee in drafting the landmark Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. That year Mr. Lehman was appointed Chief Counsel of the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Administration of Justice, and in that capacity supervised the committee’s staff engaged in oversight and legislative activities with respect to the First and Fourth Amendment law, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the National Legal Services Corporation, the Federal Courts and the nation’s intellectual property system.
In 1983 Mr. Lehman moved from Capitol Hill to the private sector, joining the law firm of Swidler & Berlin, where he soon became a partner. During his ten years in private practice, Mr. Lehman focused on intellectual property, competition, and communications law, representing clients in the media, communications and health-care industries. While in private practice, he continued his public service through participation in local government and was appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia to the D.C. General Hospital Commission, the supervisory body for the city’s large public hospital. While serving as the Commission’s Vice Chairman, Mr. Lehman initiated the creation of the D.C. General Hospital Foundation and became its Chairman.
Soon after taking office in 1993 President Bill Clinton nominated Bruce Lehman to the post of Assistant Secretary of Commerce and U.S. commissioner of patents and trademarks. Subsequently, as a result of legislation developed by Mr. Lehman and his colleagues working under Vice President Al Gore’s reinventing government initiative, the USPTO’s management structure was simplified and the title of its leader was changed to Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the USPTO. However, the responsibilities and position of the Undersecretary in the government hierarchy remain unchanged from Mr. Lehman’s tenure as Assistant Secretary and Commissioner.
As the Clinton administration’s primary representative for intellectual property rights protection, he was a key player on these issues, both domestically and internationally. At the request of the president, he served concurrently in the fall of 1997 as acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which fosters and recognizes the work of America’s artistic and creative community.
Mr. Lehman’s work in the Clinton Administration was recognized in 1994 by The National Law Journal which named him its “Lawyer of the Year.” In 1997 the public-policy magazine National Journal named him as one of the 100 most influential men and women in Washington, noting, “In today’s Information Age, the issue of intellectual property rights is no longer an arcane concern, but a vital part of U.S. trade policy. Since taking over his current posts in 1993, Lehman has been the Clinton Administration’s outspoken voice on such matters here and abroad.”
Serving as the leader of the U.S. delegation to WIPO’s December 1996 Diplomatic Conference on Certain Copyright and Neighboring Rights Questions, Mr. Lehman concluded negotiations that resulted in the adoption of two treaties: the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty; by updating international copyright law for the digital age, the treaties aim to facilitate the growth of online digital commerce over the Internet. Mr. Lehman’s guidance on the development of the intellectual property provisions of the Uruguay Round Agreement, now known as TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property), has enabled American creators and inventors to more easily protect their creations from piracy throughout the world.
Mr. Lehman also chaired the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights of the National Information Infrastructure Task Force. In September 1995 the Working Group released Intellectual Property and the National copyright protection of intellectual property in the networked environment of the information superhighway. These recommendations served as the basis for the WIPO treaties and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
At the end of 1998, Bruce Lehman returned to private life as an advisor to Priceline, Inc. and its parent company Walker Digital. He also founded IIPI and joined the boards of several Internet startups. From 1999 to 2008, during the tenure of Director General Kamil Idris, Mr. Lehman served on the Policy Advisory Commission of the World Intellectual Property Organization, headquartered in Geneva. From 2004 to October 2004 Mr. Lehman returned to law practice as Senior Counsel to the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, DC.
On February 7, 2006, Mr. Lehman was honored as one of 23 initial inductees to the newly created International IP Hall of fame, a project sponsored by the London-based, Intellectual Property Asset Management Magazine. He was one of ten living original members of the Hall of Fame which also included historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Victor Hugo.
Mr. Lehman is holding both a B.S. and a J.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and served as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army.
Susan Nilon
Executive Director / Director General
snilon@iipi.org
Susan Nilon is known as one of Florida’s most in-depth and observant current affairs commentator. She brings warmth, knowledge, and intelligence to every interview, speech, public appearance, and column. An unwavering resolve that everyone matters drives all of Susan’s endeavors. A former owner of WSRQ AM/FM radio, she is a proven master of adaptive change as illustrated by her leadership in turning the radio station into a sterling example of how to succeed on the air by “going local.” Susan has appeared on PBS’s Florida This Week, BBC RADIO, and for the past three years is regularly seen as a political commentator on ABC 7’s News at 7 with Alan Cohn.
She began her career as a journalist starting out in syndicated radio. Serving as an on-air personality, Susan moved over to management where she became the affiliate coordinator for Pennsylvania Radio Network. After moving to Florida, it was the presidential elections of 2008 that moved Susan back to her roots as a journalist. There, she worked as a political columnist for several Florida publications. In 2010, an offer to go back on the radio was made and Susan began a five-year run as the host of a political talk show on AM/FM radio. For three hours a day, she conducted over three thousand interviews, where guests, such as Madelynn Albright, Michael Smerconish, James Carville, Rep. Charlies Crist, participated in in-depth discussions that allowed her audience to understand what is shaping America.
Susan has a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Temple University, PA, a degree in English -Secondary Education from Rowan University, NJ, and is currently working on her Juris Doctorate in Intellectual Property at Western Michigan’s Cooley School of Law, FL.
She is a board member of: The Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child of Sarasota, ACLU of Florida, ACLU of Sarasota, and on the Executive Committee of the Moot Court board at WMU Thomas J. Cooley Law School. She is also a member of the legal panel of both the ACLU of Fl and the ACLU of Sarasota.
A mother and 2nd-year law student at WMU Cooley Law school, Susan is known for bringing thoughtful, informed empathy to panels, forums, and community events. Her goal is to “strengthen knowledge of governance and encourage civic engagement for all.”
Richard Litman
General Counsel
rlitman@iipi.org
Richard Litman is Legal Counsel for the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI). He is the Practice Group Leader of the Intellectual Property and Emerging Technologies Practice Group of Becker & Poliakoff, PA. He is based in the Washington, DC, Miami, Florida, and Northern Virginia offices. He is the Office Managing Attorney of the firm’s Northern Virginia Office, which is the administrative office for the firm’s IP practice. Clients include universities, research centers, programs and resources supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, and R&D funding organizations in emerging innovation economies. The Practice Group handles a wide spectrum of technologies, including Biotechnology and the Life Sciences, Information and Communications Technology, and Energy and Environmental Technology.
Innovation and entrepreneurship come naturally to Richard Litman. He has been a lawyer for 35 years. After finishing college at age 15, Richard went on to graduate from law school with honors. Richard also holds two advanced law degrees, including one in Forensic Science and the other, an LL.M. in Patent & Trade Regulation Law from The National Law Center of George Washington University, obtained during a post-graduate fellowship awarded by the Food and Drug Law Institute. He is a Registered Patent Attorney and has been admitted to practice before several state and federal courts, including the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Litman has been a director of three commercial banks for the last 20 years and has served as Chairman of The Freedom Bank of Virginia for the last 7 years. For many years he hosted the Great Ideas radio program in Washington, DC, a daily show in which he interviewed technology entrepreneurs, angel and private equity investors, and experts serving emerging technology companies. Litman has lectured in many countries on topics such as using global patent information and the international patent system to accelerate innovation, and models for international collaborative relationships. In 2009 he started the Global Academic Innovation Network (GAIN) to facilitate multinational relationships for collaborative research, and the development and commercialization of technologies.
He belongs to the American Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Licensing Executives Society, the Association of University Technology Managers, and the Association of University Research Parks. He is recognized for his achievements in Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. He has an AV Martindale-Hubbell rating and is recognized in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. The Pennsylvania Senate recognized him for his “tireless efforts to benefit the community at large”. He was also commended by President Clinton for his “deep concern about our future” and his “exemplary commitment to improving our world”.
Jenna Leventoff
Manager and Staff Attorney
jleventoff@iipi.org
Jenna is IIPI’s Manager and Staff Attorney. Prior to joining IIPI, she was a Legislative Counsel Intern at the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office and a Press Intern for Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Jenna spent a year defending the First Amendment as a Law Clerk at Berkman, Gordon, Murray, and DeVan. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, cum laude, where she was a Student Bar Association Senator, Lead Editor of the Journal of Law, Technology and the Internet and President of the Student Public Interest Law Fellowship. Jenna received her B.A. in Political Science and English from Case Western Reserve University and was a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the National English Honors Society. She is also a proud former President of the Case Democrats.
Fellows & Interns
Past Staff, Fellows, and Interns
Andrew Jaynes
Executive Director and General Counsel
ajaynes@iipi.org
Andrew is IIPI’s Executive Director and General Counsel. Prior to joining IIPI, he was a legislative fellow in the office of Congressman Walt Minnick (D-ID). Andrew spent close to a year in the Philippines conducting research on IPR protection and enforcement as a Fulbright scholar from 2007-2008. His research paper, “Why Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Remains Entrenched in the Philippines”, appears in Volume 21 Issue 1 of the Pace International Law Review. Andrew graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School where he was a Managing Editor on the Wisconsin Law Review and member of the Moot Court Board. He received his English degree with high distinction from the University of Michigan and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society.
Ben Picozzi
Program Manager
bpicozzi@iipi.org
Ben is the Program Manager at IIPI. He graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in philosophy with distinction and completed an honors thesis in international security studies. He was also elected to the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society and captained the Stanford policy debate team. Prior to his work at IIPI, Ben worked as a research intern in the areas of international conflict management and medicine. He hopes to attend law school in the near future, possibly beginning a career in international intellectual property issues.
Remington Knight
Program and Research Assistant
rknight@iipi.org
Remington is the Program and Research Assistant for IIPI. He is in the middle of his undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Remington is taking time away from school to work for IIPI and gain a better understanding of intellectual property. He is majoring in legal studies, political science, and economics. Along with his studies, he competes for the division one rowing program at the UW. Prior to Wisconsin, he graduated from Groton School, a small preparatory school in Massachusetts. Remington interned with Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) during the summer of 2013.
Rick Reidy
Executive Director
rreidy@iipi.org
Rick is an economist and public affairs advisor. Based in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, he has counseled companies, labor unions, and non-profit groups on financial and government funding issues.
Mr. Reidy was a founder and director of one of the first venture capital funds to invest exclusively in ?green? environmentally-friendly companies. Mr. Reidy also founded a start-up venture that pioneered the concept of direct-to-consumer sales of recorded music.
He served previously as chief financial officer for a boutique property development group in Los Angeles, arranging the financial packages for the company’s residential and commercial building projects. Earlier, Mr. Reidy worked at a Washington, DC trade group representing employee-owned companies and firms financed by employee-leveraged buy-outs.
A graduate in economics of the University of Notre Dame, Mr. Reidy has also studied and worked in Mexico City, Boston, and New York. He worked through his school years in radio broadcasting as an on-air announcer, talk show host, news writer and engineer.
Cameron Coffey
Program Attorney
ccoffey@iipi.org
Cameron was a Program Attorney at IIPI. A member of the Federal Circuit and Virginia State Bars, Cameron graduated from The George Washington University Law School in 2009, where she received a Presidential Merit Scholarship. Prior to joining IIPI, Cameron served as a legal fellow at the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, as a legal intern at the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies, and as a legal assistant at the University of Georgia’s Office of Legal Affairs. Cameron holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Georgia.
Jason D. Koch
Program Attorney
jkoch@iipi.org
Jason was a Program Attorney at IIPI. A member of the Federal Circuit and Virginia State Bars, Jason studied intellectual property, international law, economics, and public policy at universities in the United States, England, and the Netherlands. Prior to joining IIPI, Jason worked for the Council of the District of Columbia and was a legislative fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA). In his spare time, Jason has worked on government contract and anti-trust cases and has drafted revision for a legal casebook. Jason holds a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.
Bruce Mihalick
Program Assistant
Bruce was IIPI’s program assistant and is now at the Social Security Administration. Before IIPI, he worked in the commercial insurance billing department at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Prior to his work at Johns Hopkins, he spent close to a decade in mutual funds sales at Legg Mason. Bruce is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.
Lauren Saltiel
Lauren Saltiel is a legal intern at IIPI for the summer of 2012. She is a rising 2L at The University of Pennsylvania Law School and is working as a Center for Technology, Innovation, and Competition Public Interest Fellow. At Penn, she is on the board of the Penn Intellectual Property Group and president of the Public Interest Mentors Initiative. Lauren obtained her BA in Political Science from Barnard College in 2010. After graduation, she worked for a science media company and non-profit organization, where she was first exposed to intellectual property issues. She is particularly interested in IP issues relating to protecting cultural heritage and traditional knowledge and providing access to technologies in the developing world.
Joanna Holguin
Legal Fellow
Joanna Holguin is a legal fellow at IIPI for the fall of 2011. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law where she represented the school at the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s moot court competition. Originally from New Jersey, Joanna graduated magna cum laude from The College of New Jersey in 2007 where she studied Journalism and Philosophy. She initially became interested in intellectual property law when she began to perform with local musicians on her college campus and the local community. She hopes to establish a career in intellectual property law and learn the different aspects of the field while a fellow at IIPI. Joanna speaks fluent Spanish and is learning to speak Arabic.
Karen Schuster
Intern
Karen Schuster was an intern at IIPI during the summer of 2011. She is currently a rising senior at Dartmouth College, majoring in Classics and Chinese. In 2010, she worked for a semester abroad as a government relations intern at the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, where she developed an interest in intellectual property rights. This interest, in addition to her interest in Asia, interest in music and experience working at a technology startup led her to IIPI.
Sofia Castillo
Legal Intern
Sofia Castillo was a legal intern at IIPI during the summer of 2011. Originally from Venezuela, she will start her second year as a law student at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC. Sofia obtained her BA in Anthropology and International Development Studies at Trent University in Ontario, Canada and her MA in Latin American Studies at Stanford. Sofia is interested in learning more about intellectual property issues in trade relations between Asia and Latin America.
Krista Celentano
Legal Intern
Krista Celentano was a legal intern at IIPI during the fall of 2000. She is a third-year law student at the University of California, Davis, School of Law. Before attending law school Krista obtained a B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles in Biochemistry. She is a USPTO registered patent agent and has worked in patent prosecution and litigation. Krista’s interest in intellectual property law and policy began at UCLA and has continued through her aspiring career. As a research assistant focusing in international intellectual property law and cultural studies, Krista hopes to expand upon her knowledge of global intellectual property development at IIPI.
Carolina Rizzo
Legal Intern
Carolina Rizzo was a legal intern at IIPI during the fall of 2000. Originally from Uruguay, she is a second-year law student at American University. She obtained a BA in Latin American Studies and International Relations with High Honors from the University of Michigan in 2009. As an undergraduate student, Carolina interned at the United Nations Information Centre in Washington, DC. In law school, she serves as Co-Editor of the Arbitration Brief and blogger for the Intellectual Property Brief. She is interested in International Commercial Arbitration and Intellectual Property, specifically Copyright protection of Folklore and Traditional Knowledge. Carolina began her internship with IIPI in August.
Eric Robbins
Legal Fellow, Legal Intern
Eric was a legal intern at IIPI during the summer of 2010. He is currently a rising third-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center. He was born in Denver, CO. Before he came to law school, he worked in biomedical research at the University of Colorado, where he conducted research on a wide range of diseases including prostate cancer, tuberculosis, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He came to law school looking for a new challenge that would allow him to continue to be involved with science and found it in intellectual property law. He came to IIPI because of his affinity for intellectual property law coupled with his desire to assist other nations to develop their economies.
Alex Diaz-Ferguson
Legal Intern
Alex was a legal intern at IIPI during the summer of 2010. He is currently a J.D. candidate at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Florida International University in 2009, where he studied international business and marketing. Before going to law school, Alex worked in various fields, including internet advertising, life insurance, and university prospect management. His interests in international markets, theater and music have led him to explore intellectual property as a potential career path during and after law school. Alex speaks fluent Spanish and French.
Jongseung Ahn
Intern
Jongseung Ahn was an intern at IIPI during the spring of 2010. He holds a graduate degree in International Trade and Economic Cooperation from Kyung Hee Graduate School of Pan-pacific International Studies in South Korea, where he served as student president. Jongseung’s studies focused on intellectual property rights and foreign direct investment, and he is a member of the Korean Association of International Development and Cooperation. Jongseung’s internship experience includes Stanford Hotel in Australia, Samsung SDS in South Korea, and INDECOPI in Peru. He received B.A. in Business administration in 2008 from Chung Ang University in S. Korea.