Chris Coons appointed chair of US Senate IP subcommittee

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Chris Coons appointed chair of US Senate IP subcommittee

ChrisCoonsCOVER.jpg
Senator Christopher Coons

Five Democrats and four Republicans will serve on the subcommittee

Democratic senator Christopher Coons was announced as chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, today, February 16, a Senate spokesperson confirmed to Managing IP.

Republican senator Thom Tillis will serve as ranking member.

The rest of the nine-person subcommittee will consist of Democratic senators Mazie Hirono, Alex Padilla, Jon Ossoff and Peter Welch, and Republican senators John Cornyn, Marsha Blackburn and Tom Cotton.

Coons has been a strong proponent of patent rights. He was one of the main drivers behind efforts on Section 101 reform in 2019 and introduced the STRONGER Patents Act that same year. STRONGER would have restored the presumption of injunctive relief for patent infringement and made it harder to challenge patents at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

The bill didn’t pass, however, and industry sources told Managing IP at the time that they didn’t expect it to be enacted.

Coons was ranking member of the subcommittee during its reformation in 2019 when the Republicans had control of the Senate. But the now-retired senator Patrick Leahy took over as chair in 2021 when the Democrats won control.

Tillis has been involved in the subcommittee, first as chair and then as ranking member, since its reformation in 2019.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

To mark the EUIPO having processed five million EUTM and REUD applications, Managing IP speaks to the most prolific representatives to uncover how they stay at the top of their game
The merger marks Rouse’s second M&A deal within a month, and will provide access to Arnold & Siedsma’s UPC offering
Simon Tønners explains why IP provides the chance to work with some of the most passionate, risk-taking, and emotionally invested clients
The co-leaders of the firm’s new SEP practice group say the team will combine litigation and prosecution expertise to guide clients through cross-border challenges
Boasting four former Spruson & Ferguson leaders and with offices in Hong Kong and Singapore, the IP firm aims to provide fast, practical advice to clients
Partners at three law firms explain why trade secrets cases are rising, and how litigation is giving clients a market advantage
Delegates at a conference unpicking the UK’s relationship with the UPC are hopeful of strengthened UK involvement – so should we all be
News of a litigation funder suing its co-founder and a law firm over trade secrets infringement, and a strategic hire by Womble Bond Dickinson were also among the top talking points
Managing IP’s parent company, LBG, will acquire The Lawyer, a leading news, intelligence, and data-driven insight provider for the legal industry, from Centaur Media
In major recent developments, a team of partners broke away from Taylor Wessing to form their own firm, while Kilburn & Strode made a strategic UPC hire
Gift this article