Tom Thomson is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR), a public-private partnership dedicated to enacting international standard IPR laws and effective enforcement practices in Russia, Ukraine and in other countries of the former Soviet Union.

Tom's involvement in CIPR began when it was founded in 1999. CIPR is comprised of major international companies, highly respected IP legal practitioners and seasoned strategic communications professionals, who work closely with regional policymakers, regulators and law enforcement authorities. CIPR frequently collaborates with international and regional IPR groups, consumer and business associations on IPR policy and enforcement issues. Tom and other CIPR members and staff regularly communicate with the U.S., EU, Canada and other WTO member states on IP policy issues related to WTO accession and bilateral agreements with countries in the region.

CIPR is formally accredited as an official observer at the World Intellectual Property Organization and a founding member of the Interpol Intellectual Property Crime Action Group, where Tom served as the Industry Co-Chair from 2004-06.

Tom has written and co-authored several articles on IPR issues in Russia and the region for regional and international publications, such as Managing Intellectual Property, Trademark World, among others. He contributed an article on IPR to the American Bar Association's A Legal Guide to Doing Business in Russia and the Former Republics of the U.S.S.R. He has prepared in-depth studies on IPR issues in Russia and in other emerging markets for government and the private sector.

Tom has worked in Russia and in the region for over seventeen years, and was a full-time resident of Moscow for eleven of those years. He was a partner and managing director of the Moscow office of The PBN Company, a highly regarded international strategic communications consultancy, and who was instrumental in forming CIPR. In addition to his current responsibilities at CIPR, he is now a partner at RST International, an international business and strategic communications consultancy with offices in Washington, DC and Moscow, Russia.

He lives in Washington, DC, and frequently travels to Russia and the region.

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