ChIPs is celebrating 20 years of Impact in 2025. Read our Annual Report with a special look back on the past two decades.
Our Mission
Advance and connect
women in technology
and intellectual
property law and policy.
Our Northstar
Accelerate
innovation through
diversity of thought,
participation and
engagement.
Celebrate, Connect, Commit
We are marking the 20th anniversary of ChIPs this
year — and we have a lot to celebrate
Since its founding in 2005, ChIPs from its seven founders to more than 7,000 members in 30 chapters around the world. And we have dramatically expanded our programming.
ChIPs today is a one of the profession’s leading organizations, developing thousands of women through learning, events, mentoring, networking, leadership opportunities and community.
We help organizations’ business development by supporting individual and team performance, improving client relations, attracting new talent, fostering professional networking, and enhancing employer reputation.
Everyone who attends a ChIPs event can feel something special at work — the sense of belonging, the intensity of engagement, the quality of the programming, the warmth of the people.
Last year ChIPs held 83 in-person and virtual events giving more than 4,000 ChIPs members the opportunity to connect, learn and grow. A Harvard Business Review study has demonstrated the value of women’s business conferences like ours.
The magic of ChIPs is that we provide a premier platform, substantive programming and insightful and nurturing interactions that help women in every stage of their careers, from entry-level to the C-suite. We help our members stay updated on critical legal issues trends, share knowledge, access expert insights, network with peers and express themselves effectively.
The benefits of gender inclusion have been proved in study after study. But ChIPs is not just about representation, as important as that is. We create a community where our members and their organizations can learn, connect and thrive.
We celebrate ChIPs 20th anniversary with great pride in what our community has accomplished during the past two decades and an even stronger commitment to our mission. ChIPs is poised for a new era of impact for its current and future members and their organizations. We invite you to join us
on the exciting journey ahead.
Dorian Daley
Board Chair
Katherine Minarik
Immediate Past Board Chair
20 Years of ChIPs
ChIPs Founded
Julie Mar-Spinola, Mallun Yen, Michelle Lee, Noreen Krall, Emily Ward, Mona Sabet, and Anirma Gupta found ChIPs as a space for women in leadership positions in IP to support and advance one another.
ChIPs Hosts First Global Summit
Our Founders launched the Global Summit in 2011 as a conference for women in IP to connect, network, and learn. 200 women joined us in 2011; today, we have nearly 800 attendees.
Hall of Fame
In 2013, ChIPs establishes the Hall of Fame to honor leaders and inspire the next generation.
Mock Program Begins
In 2014, ChIPs developed the Mock Pitch program to create an opportunity for associates and junior partners to gain real-life experience pitching to clients, a necessary skill to elevate their careers and increase pay equity.
Ginsburgs Inducted to ChIPs Hall of Fame
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was inducted into the ChIPs Hall of Fame along with her husband, Martin “Marty” Ginsburg and daughter, Jane C. Ginsburg.
ChIPs Honor Roll
ChIPs Honor Roll is a joint initiative between ChIPs and Diversity Lab. Honorees are based on findings from Diversity Lab’s Inclusion Blueprint, which provides diversity benchmarks of historically underrepresented groups (female lawyers, underrepresented racial/ethnic lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities) in law firm leadership and across practice groups, including IP.
ChIPs NextGen Summit
In 2018, ChIPs hosts the first NextGen Summit aimed to prepare rising advocates for careers in intellectual property.
ChIPs Launches Scholarship
The ChIPs scholarship program was created in 2018 with a generous contribution from Morrison & Foerster to honor Rachel Krevans, a renowned intellectual property litigator from the firm.
General Counsel Boot Camp
In 2021, ChIPs develops a transformative 12-month program for women in-house attorneys aspiring to become general counsel.
ChIPs USPTO MOU
ChIPs and the USPTO signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to work together to advance women inventors and innovators. As part of this, ChIPs and USPTO are providing Innovation Resources, as we continue to aggregate research and reports on innovation and inclusion, including guidebooks to Best Practices and Mentoring.
Ketanji Brown Jackson Speaks with ChIPs
ChIPs hosts Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to speak on her life and career at the 2024 Global Summit
(and counting.)
Chapters Expand Our Horizons
From Adelaide to Amsterdam, Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C., the impact of ChIPs has been driven by the growth of ChIPs chapters. ChIPs regional chapters are a laboratory for new ideas and a proving ground for our volunteer leaders. In 2024, these regional chapters held 67 events online and in person. These included networking get-togethers and in-depth learning sessions on topics like artificial intelligence, ethics in advertising, and accounting for attorneys. Notable events included ChIPs fourth annual European Summit in Milan; a panel of federal judges from the Southern District of New York discussing AI and the law; ChIPs South Africa examining technology and data; ChIPs Orange County looking at resilience and leadership; and ChIPs Brazil exploring the generation gap in IP law. ChIPs chapters focus on career development and professional networking, increasing ChIPs impact by helping our thousands of ChIPs members advance in their careers and hundreds of law firms and corporations develop their talent.
ChIPs Chapters Span Five Continents
The ChIPs Global Impact
ChIPs chapters across five continents
Countries
Continents
Chapter Events
Chapter Event Attendees
Student Members
Worldwide Reach
UNITED STATES
Atlanta
Boston
Carolinas
Chicago
Colorado
Florida
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
New York
Orange County
Pacific Northwest
Philadelphia
San Diego
Silicon Valley
Texas
Twin Cities
Washington, D.C.
INTERNATIONAL
Australia and New Zealand
Brazil
Eastern Canada
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
South Africa
Toronto
United Kingdom
SPECIAL INTEREST
COMMUNITIES
Government
Innovation
Law Students
NextGen
Social Justice
Australia/New
Zealand
In a Barbie World:
The Power of IP Licensing
The Australia/New Zealand
chapter hosted an event in March 2024 focused on the IP behind the Barbie movie.
Chicago
Summer Happy Hour in Chicago
The Chicago chapter hosted
a summer happy hour in July
2024 to plan out the next year in events, reconnect, and enjoy the summer sun in the city.
United Kingdom
Confidence in Charting Your Path
The London chapter hosted a
panel on enabling other women
to success and how to overcome
career challenges.
Meet our Members
Serving the Next Generation
ChIPs has focused on the next generation of women leaders since our founding 20 years ago. Our resolve to “pay it forward” was — and remains — the cornerstone of ChIPs. Next-generation women have always been integral to ChIPs, and this priority accelerated when ChIPs launched its NextGen Summit 2018 in Washington, D.C. Fast forward to last year’s NextGen event, held at the Oracle Conference Center in Redwood City, California. The intensive one-day conference featured career paths to rise up and panel discussions on hot topics like AI, venture capital and ESG practices. ChIPs NextGen is more than a one-day event. It is a dynamic community that’s open all year long, connecting hundreds of members online and in our regional communities around the world. ChIPs rising stars serve on our committees, contributing their ideas, leadership and passion. They serve as leaders in our 28 chapters worldwide. They are the future of ChIPs, our industry and of innovation.
ChIPs Scholarship
ChIPs continued its tradition of paying it forward by awarding scholarships to two female law school students: Monica Lee of the George Washington University Law School and Bertha Romero Madrigal of the UCLA School of Law. ChIPs scholarship program was created in 2018 with a generous contribution from Morrison Foerster to honor Rachel Krevans, a renowned intellectual property litigator from the firm. The program was expanded in 2022 thanks to a generous donation from ChIPs co-founder Noreen Krall. “These women will be a driving force in shaping IP law, and will expand the diversity of our profession, which is why I have made personal donations to the ChIPs scholarship program,” Krall said. Lee, a student at the GW Center for Law and Technology said, “I am incredibly grateful to receive the ChIPs Scholarship. As a first-generation law student, this scholarship will not only assist me financially, it will also provide me with the invaluable opportunity to learn from some of the brightest IP professionals in the world.” Madrigal said she was “extremely honored and thrilled to be recognized by ChIPs, an organization full of inspiring women in IP who are playing an important role in bringing more women into the field, supporting each other in IP and having their presence felt, heard and seen.”
ChIPs Global Summit
ChIPs Global Summit has attracted the IP, law and tech profession’s best and brightest women for 14 years. Nearly 200 women attended ChIPs first Global Summit in 2011 — nearly 800 women attended ChIPs Global Summit 2024 in Washington, D.C. Corporate officers, policymakers, subject-matter experts and top judges and attorneys take to our stage each year. ChIPs Global Summit 2024 featured Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, legendary Silicon Valley tech reporter Kara Swisher, plus panels on emerging trends in IP, AI in the legal sphere, fostering partnership and innovation in foreign markets, and more. Last year more than 39% of our attendees worked at law firms and 48% worked at corporations and in government, academia and other sectors. More than one-third were women of color and 45% were newcomers to the Global Summit. ChIPs Global Summit is special. To quote our attendees: “I learned new information, heard new ideas and made new connections.” “ChIPs focus on IP and advancing technology is so refreshing!” “Connected with longtime friends and made new ones.” “Justice Jackson was incredibly inspiring.” “The best networking opportunities at any conference anywhere.” “It would be hard to find a more motivating and competent group of people.” “Inspirational.” ChIPs Global Summit is a unique mix of information and inspiration, the place where women, technology and the law meet.
Inclusion Drives Innovation
For the past 20 years, ChIPs has offered career development for individuals and business development for organizations. ChIPs today is one of the leading organizations in tech, law and IP policy, helping firms drive innovation and advancing women leaders through learning, events, networking and mentorship. We help firms’ business development by supporting team performance, improving client relations, attracting new talent, fostering professional networking and building firm reputation. According to the World Economic Forum, companies that cultivate inclusive cultures can see an increase in innovation of 20% — and a similar increase in revenue. “The infusion of diverse cultural backgrounds, education and unique life experiences brings about fresh ideas,” says Forbes. “Only then can teams look at a situation through a new, broader lens.” Law firms, tech companies and service providers gain new perspectives — and make new connections — through ChIPs: They send their emerging leaders and senior managers to ChIPs career development programs; attend and sponsor ChIPs global events; and network with future clients and employees at ChIPs regional seminars and get-togethers. They can even meet ChIPs members through our Talent Connector recruiting service and ChIPs free job board. Another opportunity to advance innovation is ChIPs Accelerators, live and recorded branded webinars featuring the sponsor’s leaders and content. More than 1,000 members watched ChIPs Accelerators live or recorded on our YouTube channel, or both. Accelerators events have been hosted by some of the world’s leading law firms and legal services companies including Barnes & Thornburg, Morgan Lewis, Ropes & Gray, Morrison Foerster, UnitedLex, Venable and Winston & Strawn.
Advancing Careers, Changing Lives
ChIPs content, events and development programs have engaged thousands of women in the past 20 years, transforming careers, changing lives, elevating organizations and enriching the tech, IP and legal communities. ChIPs career development initiatives go beyond its signature ChIPs Global Summit and ChIPs NextGen Summit: ChIPs Learning & Leading webinar series explored World IP Day in March, AAPI Awareness Month in May and National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October. Other ChIPs HQ webinars included “Outstanding Male Allies Advancing Women” and “Mastering Social Selling: Optimizing Your Digital Presence.” ChIPs General Counsel Boot Camp, a transformative 12-month program for in-house attorneys one to two years away from a general counsel role — graduated its second cohort and welcomed a third cohort in October. In May, ChIPs Mock Program (Oral Arguments) in May gave emerging advocates from across the country a chance to practice their skills by presenting an IP case and getting feedback from seasoned judges and attorneys. Career and professional development are ChIPs top priority — and the foundation of everything we do.
ChIPs Hall of Fame
Few women have done so much so quickly to advance women in innovation as Gina Raimondo and Kathi Vidal. Last year, ChIPs inducted former U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Undersecretary of Commerce and USPTO Director Kathi Vidal into its prestigious Hall of Fame. They join 13 women previously honored, including legendary litigator Rachel Krevans (2014), Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2015), the Hon. Michelle K. Lee (2017), U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (2018) and legal journalist Nina Totenberg (2021). “This decision was natural as both Secretary Raimondo and Director Vidal have worked so closely and so diligently to advance the goal of inclusion in innovation, including gender diversity,” said ChIPs Executive Director Joan Toth. “Both leaders have advanced a lens for inclusion in innovation that proves diversity positively impacts business.” Raimondo said, “I am honored to join the innovators, jurists and policymakers who have received this recognition from ChIPs.” Vidal said “there are gender gaps throughout the IP system — if women had equal representation in the patent system, we would be talking about increasing our economy by upwards of $1 trillion.”
ChIPs Honor Roll
ChIPs Honor Roll is produced every other year by ChIPs and Diversity Lab. It is based on Diversity Lab’s unique Inclusion Blueprint outcomes, which scores top law firms on demographics tracking, diversity representation, ongoing inclusion practices at the firm, and ongoing inclusion practices within the IP practice groups. ChIPs named six leading law firms to its Honor Roll for 2024: Davis Graham & Stubbs, Nixon Peabody, Orrick, Sheppard Mullin, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher were recognized for excellence in gender inclusion. Morgan Lewis was recognized for excellence in inclusion for all. This is the seventh presentation of ChIPs Honor Roll, “a unique diagnostic tool that allows firms to track and measure inclusion practices at both the leadership and practice group levels,” according to Diversity Lab.
“We are heartened and impressed by the achievements of these firms,” said Joan Toth, ChIPs executive director. “Their progress shows what can be done.” The six firms recognized for gender inclusion scored the highest in the gender categories on both the firmwide assessment and ChIPs IP practice assessment among nearly 250 firms. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius was the sole recipient of ChIPs Honor Roll award for inclusion for all. The firm exceeded the high threshold score set for both the firmwide assessment and IP practice assessment.
The Companies We Keep
ChIPs programs and initiatives are made possible with the support of our sponsors. These law firms, corporations and service providers advance the ChIPs mission, develop their employees, and raise their profile as trusted business partners and great places to work.
ChIPs Global Summit Sponsors
Adeia
Adobe
Alston & Bird
Amazon
Apple
ArentFox Schiff
Avanci
Baker Botts
Baker McKenzie
Barnes & Thornburg
Bartlit Beck
Benesch
Bird & Bird
Charles River Associates
Cisco
Cleary Gottlieb
Coinbase
Cooley
Covington
Debevoise & Plimpton
Dechert
Desmarais
DLA Piper
Fish & Richardson
Foley IP Law
Fredrikson
Gibson Dunn
Goodwin
Google
Greenberg Traurig
Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone
Haynes Boone
HKA
Intel
Irell & Manella
Kilpatrick
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Knobbe Martens
Kroll
KXT Law
Latham & Watkins
McGuireWoods
McKool Smith
Morgan Lewis
Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell
Morrison Foerster
Munger, Tolles & Olson
NERA
Ocean Tomo
Oracle
Orrick
Paul Hastings
Paul Weiss
Perkins Coie
Qualcomm
Reed Smith
Richards, Layton & Finger
RPX Rational Patent
Secretariat
Sheppard Mullin
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Sideman & Bancroft
Sidley
Sony Interactive
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox
StoneTurn
Sullivan & Cromwell
UnitedLex
Venable
Warren Kash Warren
Weil
White & Case
WilmerHale
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Winston & Strawn
Womble Bond Dickinson
Young Conaway
ChIPs Global Summit Pop-Up Shops
Argent
Cuyana
Essential Bodywear
IsabelleK Jewels
Lan Jaenicke
Scanlan Theodore
ChIPs NextGen Summit Sponsors
Amazon
Baker Botts
Desmarais
Fish
Google
Hogan Lovells
Intel
Keker Van Nest &
Peters
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Morrison Foerster
Oracle
Perkins Coie
ChIPs Committees
ChIPs Global Summit
Vanessa Bailey
Amazon
Laurie Charrington
Member at Large
Natalie Alfaro Gonzales
Yetter Coleman
Julianne M. Hartzell
Member at Large
ChIPs Mock Program
Julie Akhter
Formerly Microsoft
Rachel Fertig
DLA Piper
Heather Hedeen
Microsoft
Karen Keller
Shaw Keller
Sarah MacDonald
Formerly Oracle
Mindy Morton
Procopio
Anna Mayergoyz Weinberg
Apple
ChIPs NextGen Committee
Heather Burke
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Elena DiMuzio
Kammerud DiMuzio LLP
Melissa Samano Ruiz
Jackson Walker
Hon. Christa Zado
USPTO
Social Justice Committee
Chairperson
Lisa Knight
Vice Chairperson
Katherine Basile
Advisors
Maria Anderson
Carolyn Blankenship
Michele Connors
Nancy Frandsen
Caren Khoo
Macharri Vorndran-Jones
Board of Directors
Board Chair
Dorian Daley
Board Member, Panetta Institute
for Public Policy
Former General Counsel
Oracle
ChIPs Audit and Finance Committee
ChIPs Content Committee
ChIPs Nominating and Governance Committee
Immediate Paste Board Chair
Katherine Minarik
Chief Legal Officer
Uniswap Labs
ChIPs Content Committee
ChIPs Nominating and Governance Committee
Stephanie Burns
SVP and General Counsel
Sony Interactive Entertainment
ChIPs Audit and Finance Committee
ChIPs Scholarship Committe
Victoria A. Espinel
President and CEO
Business Software Alliance (BSA)
ChIPs Content Committee
ChIPs Scholarship Committee
Karen Robinson
VP, Associate General Counsel
Adobe
ChIPs Scholarship Committee
Sarita Venkat
VP and Deputy General Counsel
Global Litigation and Competition
Cisco
ChIPs Nominating and Governance Committee
Cyndi Wheeler
Head of Intellectual Property
Unity Technologies
ChIPs Audit and Finance Committee
Jennifer Yokoyama
SVP and Deputy General Counsel
IP and Technology
Cisco
ChIPs Audit and Finance Committee
ChIPs Content Committee
Staff
Joan Toth, Executive Director
Bridget Johnson, Director of Business Development and Partnerships
Stephanie McFee, Director of Global Community
Virginia Moore, Director of Events
Julie Morbidelli, Director of Finance and Operations
Olivia Moorer, Communications Manager
Monica Phillips, Director of Learning, Content and DEI
Thank You
Thousands of people have built ChIPs over the past 20 years: our founders and Board members, our chapter leaders and committee members, our members and volunteers, our attendees and sponsors.
ChIPs 20th year started with the election of Dorian Daley as our new Board Chair. Many of you know Dorian from her storied career as General Counsel of Oracle and her active engagement in ChIPs. She is the driving force behind ChIPs General Counsel Boot Camp and has been a strong advocate for programming that helps advance and connect women at all levels. Dorian is a powerhouse leader, and we are thrilled to have her leading our Board.
Dorian succeeds Katherine Minarik of Uniswap Labs, who served as ChIPs Board Chair for four eventful years. Katherine led the expansion of our Mock programs and NextGen Summit; helped support new chapters in Australia/New Zealand, South Africa and South America; and expanded and reorganized ChIPs staff. Katherine is a catalyst for leveraging inclusion to drive innovation, and we are delighted that she will continue to serve on our Board. ChIPs would not exist without people like Katherine, Dorian — and you.
Your eagerness to learn and connect, your support of our shared mission and your engagement at our events are the reasons ChIPs continues to thrive.
There is not enough room in this report to individually recognize everyone who has contributed to our success over the past 20 years. But we want to thank you and more than 7,000 ChIPs members for giving us so much to celebrate — and so much to look forward to.
Warm regards,
Joan Toth