IP Champion

IP Champion Award

Ruthie Lyle, Ph.D., Principal Patent Architect, NVIDIA is the 2026 IP Champion for her extraordinary leadership advocating for the value of intellectual property. Dr. Lyle has displayed pioneering leadership in expanding access to inventorship, building inclusive innovation pipelines, and creating opportunities for underrepresented talent in STEM and intellectual property. Dr. Lyle established the Technical Patent Architect Practice at NVIDIA, connecting legal, research, and engineering teams to accelerate inventorship, patent training, and invention generation. She currently leads NVIDIA’s Pathways to AI and Diversity in Inventorship programs, expanding AI learning opportunities and representation for underrepresented communities in technology. As a registered Patent Agent and inventor on more than 220 patents, she began her career at IBM, where she became one of the few women named IBM Master Inventor, and later helped create USAA’s Strategic Emerging Technology Research Program. The first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from NYU Tandon, Dr. Lyle frequently speaks about expanding access to inventorship and creating opportunities for underrepresented talent in STEM and intellectual property.