Brad Watts is the Minority Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property. As Minority Chief Counsel, Brad is responsible for planning and implementing Ranking Member Thom Tillis’s and the Republican minority’s legislative portfolio on all aspects of intellectual property law.

Brad previously served as Majority Chief Counsel and Staff Director for the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property in the 116th Congress under then Chairman Thom Tillis. As Majority Chief Counsel, Brad was responsible for planning and implementing then Chairman Tillis’ legislative and oversight agenda on all aspects of America’s innovation economy. During his tenure as Majority Chief Counsel, the Subcommittee held over seventeen legislative and oversight hearings and multiple staff briefings on intellectual property issues ranging from the state of patent eligibility law in America to reforming the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Under Brad’s leadership, the Subcommittee passed the CASE Act, the Trademark Modernization Act, and the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act, three landmark bills that collectively represent the largest changes to intellectual property law since the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.

Prior to his appointment as the Subcommittee’s Majority Chief Counsel, Brad had served as Chief Counsel in Senator Thom Tillis’ (R-N.C.) personal office. Earlier in his career he spent two years serving as Chief Immigration Counsel to then Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Brad began his career with then Senator Jeff Sessions as a Legislative Counsel on the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, handling civil rights and civil liberties law, general tort law, bankruptcy, telecommunications, and intellectual property issues for the Senator.