The 50 most influential people in IP 2021

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The 50 most influential people in IP 2021

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Managing IP reveals its pick of the top people driving intellectual property law, policy and business this year

The list is in five categories, which you can access individually by clicking the links below. A profile of each person featured can be found in these sections, along with links to separate interviews for some. The full list of names is at the end of each section.


The categories:

21 industry leaders >

9 public officials >

9 judges >

6 IP authorities >

5 notable individuals >

It’s been an interesting year for intellectual property.

In Europe, we had the Brexit aftermath, EPO rulings on computer-implemented simulations and video conferencing, and the throwing out of two constitutional complaints made against the Unified Patent Court in Germany.

In the Americas, Brazil ditched its 10-year patent term guarantee, the US’s patent appeals court hired its first black judge, and the US Supreme Court ruled on judge appointment constitutionality, software copyrightability and assignor estoppel.

And in Asia, India finally closed down its Intellectual Property Appellate Board, China cracked down on junk patent filings and Singapore passed its new copyright law.

If that weren’t enough, there were some huge developments in the artificial intelligence (AI) and pharmaceutical spaces too.

South Africa’s IP office issued the first-ever patent designating an AI tool – DABUS – as an inventor and the machine’s owner as the patent owner. An Australian court became the first judicial forum to allow an AI tool to be listed as an inventor.

President Joe Biden’s administration backed an IP waiver for COVID vaccines, initiating an abrupt policy reversal from former Democratic and Republican administrations.

Once again, we felt it was important to highlight the people responsible for all this change – 50 of them, at least.

It is worth noting that anyone whose main job involves working for a law firm was not eligible for the list; they are rated and ranked in many other places (including IP STARS).

The names were picked by Managing IP’s journalists with some assistance from our readers. The list is not intended as a definitive ranking, but rather the start of a debate, so we have simply organised the top 50 into five categories and then in alphabetical order.

Congratulations to those who featured this year! If you would like to compare this year’s list to 2020’s, click here.

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More from across our site

Former in-house counsel Andriana Shultz Daly has returned to the firm with client-side insight and courtroom skills to build the firm’s life sciences practice
The LMG Life Sciences Awards announces the 2025 winners for the 13th annual awards!
News of AI company Cerence accusing Apple of patent infringement and a hiring update from Lewis Silkin were also among the top talking points
The addition of BH EVS as a licensee enhances the outreach of the Qi pool, which now licenses nearly half of the global auto supplier market
Only a few international law firms have made a mark in Australia’s IP market, but Rouse entering the field could be a sign of changing times
Caroline Casalonga reflects on her journey as the French firm’s first female leader and shares her dream of building the outfit into a major European independent IP practice
Firm says the hire of Laura Ramsay will help consolidate its position as a ‘market leader’ for premium IP work
CEO Martyn Fish reflects on the past as HGF celebrates its 30th anniversary and discusses how PE investment has helped the firm’s people and clients
The 105-year-old IP firm Wrays and related business Aperture Insight will join Rouse but operate independently
The winners will be revealed during a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on November 6
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