Laura Peter

Laura Peter serves as Deputy Director General of the Patents and Technology Sector at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where she provides strategic leadership for the international patent system and for efforts to strengthen intellectual property systems worldwide. She leads the Sector’s work administering and advancing WIPO’s patent-related services, including the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which enables innovators and businesses to seek patent protection in 159 Contracting States through a single international application. She also oversees the Sector’s work with Member States and intellectual property offices to strengthen institutional capacity and patent systems, advance international cooperation, and develop sound legal and policy approaches to emerging and evolving technologies. Her portfolio spans the administration of the international patent system, capacity building and technical assistance, international policy development, and the evolving relationship between intellectual property and technological innovation.

A nationally and internationally recognized leader in intellectual property and innovation policy, Ms. Peter brings more than 30 years of executive, legal, and policy experience spanning government, industry, and academia. Her career has focused on the role of intellectual property in enabling innovation, technological progress, investment, and economic growth, with particular expertise in patent policy, technology commercialization, and the policy challenges presented by rapidly developing technologies.

Ms. Peter previously served as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, she co-led one of the world’s largest intellectual property institutions, overseeing agency operations, a $3.5 billion annual budget, and a workforce of more than 13,000 employees. She directed national and international intellectual property policy initiatives, oversaw USPTO regional offices and global intellectual property attachés, and played a central role in shaping United States policy on emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing. She also served as a judge on matters before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Before joining WIPO, Ms. Peter served as Executive Director of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she led the university’s intellectual property, technology transfer, and research commercialization activities and advised senior leadership on innovation policy, research partnerships, and external engagement. Earlier in her career, she held senior legal and executive positions in the technology sector, advising companies and emerging enterprises on intellectual property strategy, commercialization, corporate governance, and technology transactions.

Throughout her career, Ms. Peter has focused on the role of intellectual property in creating the legal certainty and incentives that enable investment, reward innovation, facilitate technology transfer, and accelerate the development and diffusion of new technologies.

Ms. Peter is a frequent author and speaker on intellectual property, innovation, and technology policy. Her commentary has appeared in leading publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, IPWatchdog, RealClear Health, and The Daily Signal. She has addressed universities, international organizations, industry forums, and policy conferences on patent policy, emerging technologies, artificial intelligence and intellectual property, research commercialization, and international innovation policy.

Ms. Peter has been named to the IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists, a distinction recognizing leading practitioners in the development and implementation of sophisticated intellectual property strategies. She has also been recognized by World IP Review as one of its “Influential Women in IP.”

Ms. Peter holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Cornell University, a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago, a Juris Doctor in Intellectual Property Law from Santa Clara University, and a Master of Laws in International Business Law from King’s College London.