J.S. Held appoints James Malackowski as chief intellectual property officer

J.S. Held, a Jericho, NY-based technical and forensic advisory firm, has appointed James Malackowski as the first chief intellectual property officer (CIPO) of a global consulting company.

In other firms, such a role would usually fall under the purview of general counsel or the legal department more generally. 

J.S. Held says its experts have developed methodologies, frameworks, proprietary tools, and research that support client work, and the CIPO will ensure these intangible assets are identified, protected, and leveraged.

“Having dedicated IP leadership will help the company move faster in developing and deploying new methodologies, while ensuring reasonable measures of protecting our innovations,” Malackowski said.

The inaugural CIPO will also work with leadership and firm experts to monetize patent, trademark, data, and other proprietary assets.

A leading expert on IP management and markets, Malackowski has 35+ years of related professional services experience. He joined J.S. Held in 2022 as part of its acquisition of Ocean Tomo, an IP advisory firm he co-founded, and currently serves as leader of J.S. Held’s IP practice.

The Ocean Tomo division has extensive expertise in assessing IP across various areas, including damages, transaction pricing, capital market valuations, debt financing terms, and equity assessments.

Between 2003 and 2022, Malackowski served as CEO of Ocean Tomo. Before that, he was principal and co-founder of IPC Group and an executive consultant at Peterson & Co.

Malackowski has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame and is a certified public accountant, certified in financial forensics, and accredited in business valuation.

“In today's knowledge-based economy, the role of CIPO serves an important strategic and operational role both internally and in support of clients,” Lee Spirer, CEO of J.S. Held, said.

J.S. Held has 1,500+ people across six continents providing services in technical and scientific advisory, strategic advisory, digital and data, financial investigations, valuation, and risk.

The firm earlier this year hired Bill Fasel as a senior managing director in its strategic advisory group in Chicago.