- Microsoft has reportedly named Jennifer Yokoyama as the company’s head of IP. She will be succeeding Microsoft corporate vice president and chief IP counsel Erich Andersen.
Microsoft announced it named Jennifer Yokoyama as the company’s head of IP, according to IAM. Yokoyama is succeeding Microsoft corporate vice president and chief IP counsel Erich Andersen. Andersen has worked at Microsoft for more than 20 years.
“After 20+ wonderful years at Microsoft, including the last several as head of the IP group, I’ve been presented with the opportunity to move to a new city and take on the role of general counsel at another company. I’ll share details before too long. I will truly miss my colleagues at Microsoft but am looking forward to this new challenge,” wrote Andersen in a LinkedIn post. And Microsoft President Brad Smith congratulated Andersen in a reply to the LinkedIn post.
Yokoyama previously worked as the head of IP litigation at Microsoft and had joined the company in June 2018. Prior to joining Microsoft, Yokoyama was the principal counsel for patent litigation at Apple. While working at Apple, Yokoyama focused on complex multijurisdictional patent and FRAND-based disputes with an emphasis on Asia where she was responsible for the APAC litigation docket.
And between 2010 and 2013, Yokoyama was the assistant general counsel of IP litigation and licensing strategy at Nike. Plus Yokoyama also worked as a partner at McDermott Will & Emery for seven years.
