Chad Rutkowski

Chad Rutkowski is a recognized expert on the intersection of copyright and technology. He is a Partner at BakerHostetler LLP and the author of Lexis Practical Guidance notes on data licensing and Creative Commons licenses, speaks regularly on copyright issues in software and AI, and is the principal author of BakerHostetler’s Beyond Source Code web tool, which digests all court decisions addressing the scope of copyright protection in the non-literal elements of source code. As co-lead of BakerHostetler’s Digital Transformation and Data Economy team, as well as the IP & Technology Transactions and Outsourcing team, he assists clients in the midst of the “digital transformation.”

Chad helps clients identify and capture the intellectual property (IP) in their valuable data, algorithms and enterprise software. Clients rely on him to help identify their IP, build internal processes for its management, navigate open source and other open innovation strategies and create licensing programs that enable full value realization. He further protects that value in disputes and litigation, whether through enforcing clients’ IP rights or fending off attacks by competitors.

Chad writes and presents regularly on the robust protections afforded by copyright law to software, data, artificial intelligence and related innovations. He has helped clients protect innovations in healthcare technology, water management, smart cities, population health management and online consumer lending.

Chad’s interest in how IP law has adapted to digital transformation began in his former role as a founder and business manager of a digital media publisher. Drawing from his professional and legal experiences, he contributes regularly to the BakerHostetler’s IP blogs. Additionally, he is an active member of the Copyright Society and Chair of its Artifical Intelligence Committee, and is the past chair of the Copyright and Emerging Technology subcommittee and current chair of the Social Media subcommittee of the ABA IP Law Section. Chad has been recognized as “highly experienced in copyright-related matters relating to software” by Legal500, AV Preeminent-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been voted by his peers as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer and Rising Star.