John A. Amster is the CEO and co-founder of RPX Corp. Prior to co-founding RPX, Mr. Amster was the General Manager of Strategic Acquisitions and Vice President of Licensing at Intellectual Ventures, responsible for strategic acquisitions of patent portfolios as well as developing the software and e-commerce licensing programs. Prior to joining IV, Mr. Amster was Managing Director and founded the M&A Advisory practice for Ocean Tomo, completing several important transactions in the early patent market, including the sale of Commerce One. Prior to joining Ocean Tomo, Mr. Amster was Vice President and Secretary at InterTrust Technologies, where he worked on intellectual property transactions, merger and acquisition activities, and late-stage financing activities, including the sale of InterTrust to a Philips-Sony joint venture for $453 million. Mr. Amster started his career as an associate at Weil Gotshal & Manges, where his practice included mergers and acquisitions, equity investments, venture capital financings, intellectual property licensing, and patent litigation. Mr. Amster received his JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his BA from Middlebury College. Mr. Amster frequently speaks on patent litigation matters at various industry conferences and in the media. He has been recognized in The American Lawyer’s 2010 review of “The 25 Most Influential People in IP” and in Managing Intellectual Property magazine’s “The 50 Most Influential People in IP.”