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Mark Chandler

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer

General Counsel

Mark Chandler is Executive Vice President, Legal Services, and General Counsel for Cisco, and is also Cisco's Chief Compliance Officer. In these roles, he oversees Cisco's global legal activities and policies, as well as ethics, compliance and regulatory affairs, employee relations, investigations, and brand protection. He has been General Counsel since 2001.

Previously, he was Managing Attorney for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, based in Paris. A primary part of his focus is developing solutions to simplify the support for Cisco's sales and services transactions, including process automation and anticipation of future transactional needs.

Chandler joined Cisco in 1996, when Cisco acquired StrataCom, Inc., where he had been general counsel. Prior to StrataCom, he served for six years as vice president of corporate development and general counsel for Maxtor Corporation, a Fortune 500 hard disk drive manufacturer. From 1986-1988 he worked in the marketing department of Siemens AG, Munich, and in 1985-1986 lived in Germany as part of the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program.

Chandler is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council for Stanford Law School, the Board of Directors of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, and the Board of Trustees for Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass. He previously served as a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council, member and chairman of the City of Palo Alto Planning Commission, and member of the Palo Alto Utilities Advisory Commission. In spring 2016, he was a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School. In 2010, The National Law Journal named him one of the 40 Most Influential Lawyers of the Decade, and in 2013, American Lawyer numbered him among the Top 50 Big Law Innovators of the Last 50 Years.

Chandler received a JD degree from Stanford Law School in 1981 and a BA degree in economics from Harvard College in 1978.

You can also follow Mark on the German Blog site, and on the Cisco Newsroom.

Articles

December 17, 2019

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Why Does Poly Protect Employees Who Took Cisco Info?

Several weeks ago, in federal court, Cisco sued three former employees – James He, Wilson Chung, and Jedd Williams – for trade secret misappropriation.  At the time, we believed they had acted individually, and therefore did not name their subsequent employer in the litigation.  Today, based on new information, we have amended our action to […]

July 31, 2019

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

A Changed Environment Requires a Changed Approach

 Cisco Resolves Claims Related to Video Security Software Sold Between 2008 to 2014 As the world’s largest supplier of internet security hardware and software products and services, we’re reminded every...

February 7, 2019

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EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Cisco Calls for US Federal Privacy Legislation—Leveling the Privacy Playing Field

Enterprise-facing companies who do not monetize customer data through advertising, like Cisco, must ensure that our customers – and our customers’ customers – can trust how their data is handled. 

February 4, 2019

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Human Rights Must be Front and Center for Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and Privacy

Artificial intelligence and the internet of things have the potential to drive unprecedented productivity, reduce pollution, and improve human health. With the rollout of advanced, high speed wireless connectivity known...

October 3, 2018

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Using Technology to Promote High-Quality Patents with the USPTO, MIT Media Lab, and Google

Thanks to the leadership of US Patent and Trademark Director Andrei Iancu, a new era begins today in ensuring that US patents reflect real invention. Together with representatives from across...

August 6, 2018

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Joint Statement – Agreement Resolving Litigation

The following is a joint statement from Cisco and Arista regarding the existing litigation.

May 4, 2018

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Cisco General Counsel Calls for IPR Improvements to Protect Patentholders

Innovation is the life blood of our company.  We invest more than $6 billion annually in research and development, and have over 14,000 issued US patents, reflecting the strength of...

July 21, 2017

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: ITC Declines to Suspend Ruling; Orders Remain In Effect

The International Trade Commission yesterday sent a strong message to Arista that its “corporate culture of copying”, as the ITC has put it, must stop. By rejecting Arista’s efforts to delay orders that Arista stop importing and selling infringing products in the U.S., it reinforced the protection of intellectual property rights. On May 4, the Commission […]

July 5, 2017

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Presidential Review Period Expires in ‘945 Investigation

We learned this morning that the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House have rejected Arista’s “trade policy” pleas, and refused to stop the ITC’s limited exclusion and cease and desist orders from going into effect. The orders were issued in response to Arista’s infringement of two Cisco patents. That means that effective today, Arista […]