Biography
Kirby Lee is Associate General Counsel for Ecolab, where he serves as top counsel for Purolite’s life sciences and industrial businesses, including commercial, intellectual property, compliance, and corporate governance matters.
Kirby joined Ecolab in 2016 and held roles of increasing responsibility within the Intellectual Property team. As Assistant Chief IP Counsel, he was responsible for global patent portfolio management, IP litigation, and other IP-related matters, including supporting the needs of Nalco Water business operations in Naperville, Illinois.
Prior to Ecolab, Kirby was a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where for a decade he represented federal agencies in IP litigation. His government service also included a detail to the White House as Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. IP Enforcement Coordinator.
Kirby earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University and a Juris Doctor from the Indiana University Law School – Indianapolis, where he graduated first in his class. During law school, he was editor-in-chief of the Indiana Law Review and worked as a patent attorney trainee doing patent prosecution at Eli Lilly and Company.
Immediately following law school, Kirby served as judicial law clerk to the Hon. Alan D. Lourie at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and to the Hon. Marvin J. Garbis at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He is also a registered patent attorney.
Currently, Kirby teaches Trade Secret Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. He is an active member of the Jimmie V. Reyna American Inn of Court in the Twin Cities and the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), where he is co-chair of the U.S. Patent Law & Litigation Committee and chair of the Membership Committee.