Andrei Iancu, JD

Andrei Iancu is a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a position to which he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. As head of the USPTO, Andrei oversaw one of the largest IP offices in the world and served as the administration’s principal advisor on domestic and international policy matters. Among Andrei’s many initiatives in this role was the creation of the National Council for Expanding American Innovation, a group of industry, academia and government leaders tasked with helping the USPTO develop a national strategy to broaden America’s innovation ecosystem and return the United States to being the world’s innovation leader.\ Prior to his government service, Andrei spent two decades at Irell & Manella LLP, where he served as the firm’s managing partner from 2012 to 2018, the maximum allowable tenure. Andrei also co-founded the Renewing American Innovation Project at the bipartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He previously taught patent law at UCLA School of Law, and he is a sought-after speaker and writer on issues related to IP and innovation. He received his J.D., M.S. in mechanical engineering, and B.S. in aerospace engineering from UCLA.