Mr. Norris was a co-founder and principal investor in Trident International, a company purchased as a division of Johnson Worldwide and then taken public on the NASDAQ. Mr. Norris served as a member of the board of directors of Trident International until its successful sale to a larger competitor. Trident’s value increased 20-fold over 5 years. He also invested in, and was on the board of, Foxjet, Inc. – an inkjet cartridge manufacturer, which saw a 5-fold return over 2 years.
From 1968 through his retirement in 2000, Mr. Norris was an attorney in the intellectual property law firm of Woodcock Washburn LLC. He rose to the level of partner (1980 – 2000) and served for many years as a member of its executive committee.
As a practicing attorney, Mr. Norris has been active in patent litigation and intellectual property law involving various technical subjects. He is the chairman of, and he and his family are majority shareholders of, eTool Development Inc. which owns patent rights relating to on-line product development tools used in the electronics and specialty chemical industries.
Mr. Norris received his JD degree from George Washington University and has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University