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Professor Karl F. Jorda has been selected by the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association to receive the 1996 Jefferson Medal in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the U.S. intellectual property law system. Known today as the "Dean" of intellectual property law at the Franklin Pierce Law Center, Professor Jorda served as Corporate Intellectual Property Counsel and Director of the Intellectual Property Department at CIBA-GEIGY Corporation for twenty-six years.

At the Franklin Pierce Law Center, where he is the David Rines Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Industrial Innovation and Director of the Kenneth J. Germeshausen Center for the Law of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Professor Jorda is recognized as a master teacher who has guided the New Hampshire law school's intellectual property program to national preeminence.

It is especially appropriate to honor Professor Jorda for his contributions to intellectual property law at a time when questions of U.S. law more than ever involve international issues. His career and life have reflected his global interests, beginning with his emigration from Germany to the United States on scholarship. After earning an M.A. in Chemistry and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame, he clerked for Judge Kiley of the Illinois Appellate court. He then began his career at CIBA-GEIGY, where he directed the intellectual property department of one of the world's leading biological and chemical companies with operations in 60 countries.

Professor Jorda has served as a consultant on the development and implementation of intellectual property law systems to developing countries from Indonesia to Bulgaria, has lectured on intellectual property issues around the world, and has headed U.S. Patent Counsel Delegations at five biennial Japanese Patent Office Meetings in Tokyo. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, the GAO, the Commerce Department and the House of Representatives on a myriad of intellectual property issues.

He also serves as Adjunct Professor at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy of Tufts University, where he teaches a course on international intellectual property law. He is past International President of the Pacific Intellectual Property Association, past President of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association, and current Chairman of the Intellectual Property Committee of the Inter-American Bar Association, among many other leadership positions in the INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY bar. He has also published extensively on international and domestic intellectual property topics.

The Jefferson Medal is awarded annually by the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association to a person who has made exceptional contributions to the American intellectual property law system.