John A. Amster, Co-CEO - 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 transactions with an aggregate value of approximately $40 million, 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 J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his B.A. from Middlebury College. [top]
Geoffrey T. Barker, Co-CEO - Prior to co-founding RPX, Geoffrey Barker was Vice President, Licensing at Intellectual Ventures, where he and Mr. Amster shared responsibility for the portfolio development and licensing strategy of IV’s software portfolio. Previously, Mr. Barker served as founder, Chairman and CEO of Vigilos, Inc., which provides a platform for controlling and managing the physical security systems of large enterprises. Prior to founding Vigilos, Mr. Barker was co-founder and co-CEO of The Cobalt Group and held positions in trading, research and investment banking with Kidder, Peabody & Company, Salomon Brothers Inc, and Piper Jaffray Incorporated.
Mr. Barker holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University. [top]
Eran Zur, President - The company’s third co-founder, Eran Zur was a partner at the boutique IP firm Hoffman & Zur, which assisted patent holders in monetizing their patents, including developing and implementing licensing and enforcement programs and conducting patent sale negotiations. Mr. Zur’s clients range from individual inventors to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to this, Mr. Zur was part of the team that designed and implemented the licensing program of the Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation, LP, considered by many to be the most successful licensing program for an individual inventor, with almost 1,000 licensees and generating over $1.3 billion in license fees. In this role, Mr. Zur was responsible for negotiating settlements with potential licensees and successfully completed transactions in a wide range of industries including tobacco, software, e-commerce, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, retail and electronics. Mr. Zur obtained his law degree, with honors, from the University of Leeds, England, and has a post-graduate degree in International Trade Law from the University of Arizona. [top]
John A. Amster, Co-CEO - 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 transactions with an aggregate value of approximately $40 million, 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 J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his B.A. from Middlebury College.
Geoffrey T. Barker, Co-CEO - Prior to co-founding RPX, Geoffrey Barker was Vice President, Licensing at Intellectual Ventures, where he and Mr. Amster shared responsibility for the portfolio development and licensing strategy of IV’s software portfolio. Previously, Mr. Barker served as founder, Chairman and CEO of Vigilos, Inc., which provides a platform for controlling and managing the physical security systems of large enterprises. Prior to founding Vigilos, Mr. Barker was co-founder and co-CEO of The Cobalt Group and held positions in trading, research and investment banking with Kidder, Peabody & Company, Salomon Brothers Inc, and Piper Jaffray Incorporated.
Mr. Barker holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University.
Eran Zur, President - The company’s third co-founder, Eran Zur was a partner at the boutique IP firm Hoffman & Zur, which assisted patent holders in monetizing their patents, including developing and implementing licensing and enforcement programs and conducting patent sale negotiations. Mr. Zur’s clients range from individual inventors to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to this, Mr. Zur was part of the team that designed and implemented the licensing program of the Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation, LP, considered by many to be the most successful licensing program for an individual inventor, with almost 1,000 licensees and generating over $1.3 billion in license fees. In this role, Mr. Zur was responsible for negotiating settlements with potential licensees and successfully completed transactions in a wide range of industries including tobacco, software, e-commerce, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, retail and electronics. Mr. Zur obtained his law degree, with honors, from the University of Leeds, England, and has a post-graduate degree in International Trade Law from the University of Arizona.