Mark Webbink

Visiting Professor
Executive Director, Center for Patent Innovations

Mark Webbink is Executive Director of the Center for Patent Innovations, a research and development arm of New York Law School's Institute for Intellectual Law & Property. His work focuses on harnessing social networks and utilizing Web-based technology to improve patent systems globally.

Professor Webbink was formerly the Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Red Hat, the premier Linux and open source vendor. During his tenure with Red Hat he developed a number of groundbreaking intellectual property practices, including Red Hat’s Patent Promise and the legal foundations for Red Hat’s subscription model for open source software. He has written and spoken extensively on the subject of the U.S. patent system and the need for reform, including testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property; the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice; and the National Academy of Sciences. He is the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Software and Information Industry Association and a present board member of the Software Freedom Law Center.