Chris Katopis

Lawyer, Consultant

Chris Katopis is a lawyer and consultant whose practice focuses on intellectual property and financial services. He has held key positions in government, including as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Pauline Newman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; positions at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property; and legislative director for the late Congressman. Sonny Bono. He resides in Washington, D.C. where he is a pro bono volunteer for the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA). Chris is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering (SEAS) and received his J.D. from the Temple University School of Law.

Recent Articles by Chris Katopis

Blockchain IP: DAOs Are Innovative—But Will They Be Inventors?

Intellectual property (IP) provides us a front row seat to the cutting-edge of technology. The legal questions arising at this frontier are often as complex as the resulting inventions and creative works. The Federal Circuit’s recent Thaler v. Vidal opinion clarifies an important patent law concept, specifically whether an artificial intelligence (AI) may be listed as the inventor of a patent. The current industrial revolution powered by blockchain and crypto continues to raise issues about how it meshes with our current IP legal framework…. The latest question at the cutting-edge of “who, or what may, be an inventor” begs whether a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), a new type of digital blockchain-based organization, can participate in IP-related activities, including the invention, ownership, licensing, and enforcement of patent rights.

August 10, 2022

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