BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global Prior Art (GPA), the leading provider of patent research and analytics services, today announced that Chris Smyth has joined GPA as Vice President, Business Development, effective June 1, 2020.
In this role, Mr. Smyth is responsible for overseeing the sales, marketing, and business development efforts of the firm, and the launch of new IP and strategic services, which previously were available to only a handful of firms. GPA, with a dedicated client base of leading law firms and companies and a reputation as the most trusted name in patent research, is poised to expand its capabilities and relationships over the coming years.
Mr. Smyth brings near two decades of experience in the intellectual property / patent information services space. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President at RPX Corporation, where he was responsible for leading various corporate development efforts for the well-respected patent defensive aggregator. Prior to RPX, Mr. Smyth, held various leadership positions in general management and business development with select firms, including Thomson Reuters, among others.
“The effectiveness and strength of GPA lies in its breadth and depth of expertise, its IP professionals who work tirelessly to solve clients’ patent challenges, and a unique approach that consistently yields stronger findings,” said GPA’s Founder and Managing Director, Bruce Rubinger. “While our defensive IP efforts are well known, GPA’s deep technology and IP expertise also has positioned us as a leader in analyzing cutting edge technologies. With Mr. Smyth’s support, GPA plans to expand its strategic services to clients seeking to leverage this deep technical knowledge & analysis to make more informed business decisions. Examples of next frontiers in innovation where GPA has particular expertise include virtual reality, AI and AI-on-chip, autonomous vehicles, digital currencies and distributed ledger technology, 5G wireless telephony, and medical technology.
“As GPA continues to expand its services beyond prior art searching, Chris will be critical in bringing these new offerings to new and existing clients. Curated, patent-centric ‘knowledge bases’ are already being used by select corporate clients to drive strategic product development and M&A decisions. We intend to roll these out to additional industries. Additionally, the ever-increasing licensing battles over standard essential patents (SEPs) have enabled our telecom and high-tech groups to support clients in critical standards-centric analyses. I look forward to working with Chris to continue to delight our clients and, in turn, to grow the GPA business.”
“The dramatic shift in the market toward quality patents combined with the adoption of post grant proceedings has brought forth a renewed focus on high-quality prior art research capabilities.” said Mr. Smyth. “I’ve known GPA and Bruce for many years and it’s well appreciated by me and the broader market that GPA is the “go-to” research firm, particularly for high-stakes matters. I look forward to the opportunity to build atop this market reputation and the firm’s 35+ years of experience.”
Mr. Smyth began his IP career as a Patent Agent with the law firm of Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer, and Risley in Atlanta, GA. Mr. Smyth holds an MBA from the NYU-Stern School of Business and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Mr. Smyth lives in Connecticut with his wife and three children.
About Global Prior Art
Global Prior Art is one of the longest tenured and most respected patent research firms. Headquartered in Boston, MA, GPA is made up of a team of over 50 engineers, scientists, medical doctors, and patent professionals graduating from some of the best universities in the world. Collectively, GPA’s various technology groups have completed over 16,000 assignments, including having researched over 25% of the patents subject to inter partes review (IPR). GPA works with all twenty of the Top 20 IPR petitioning law firms. Behind the scenes, GPA’s efforts have transformed IP management within IP savvy firms yielding strong patent portfolios, leadership in technology and a road map to capture the next generation of products.