Big Firm Skills. Small Firm Service.
I have more than 20 years of experience in commercial law, with a particular focus on intellectual property. Having practiced for most of my career with large, multi-office law firms, I now offers clients big-firm expertise with the kind of personal attention, flexibility, and value that only a small firm can provide.
On this page I summarize the kinds of work that I do. I encourage you to look around my website. If you are a business owner or inventor and want to know more about some of the basics of intellectual property law, please check out my "Basics" pages. I've tried to write them with the non-lawyer in mind, and welcome your feedback as to whether I'm telling you what you need to know in a way that is clear and concise.
On this page I summarize the kinds of work that I do. I encourage you to look around my website. If you are a business owner or inventor and want to know more about some of the basics of intellectual property law, please check out my "Basics" pages. I've tried to write them with the non-lawyer in mind, and welcome your feedback as to whether I'm telling you what you need to know in a way that is clear and concise.
Licenses, Agreements, Policies, and Procedures
I have advised clients ranging from individual inventors and entrepreneurs to large multinational corporations on a wide range of issues relating to intellectual property and technology law. In the past 12 months I have negotiated dozens of agreements for clients having a total value of well over $5 million. My work has included prosecuting patent and trademark applications; negotiating intellectual property license and product development agreements; helping maintain and protect trade secrets; counseling on a broad range of copyright issues ranging from media content such as music, video, and print, to architectural drawings and computer software; helping companies plan and develop their intellectual property portfolios; conducting intellectual property due diligence in connection with loans, investments, mergers, and acquisitions; and helping clients develop systems, policies, and procedures to plan ahead for and manage electronic discovery. I am admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
My intellectual property litigation experience includes the initiation and defense of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret lawsuits. The cases I have worked on have have covered a wide range of technical subjects, including computer software, the Internet, semiconductor chips, semiconductor circuits, business methods, microencapsulated fluids, pharmaceutical chemicals; business communications systems, and electro-mechanical devices. I have been fortunate enough to have been involved in every aspect of litigation, from drafting the initial pleadings, seeking and defending against preliminary injunctions, conducting all phases of national and international discovery (including electronic discovery), motion practice, patent claim construction ("Markman") hearings, trials, and appeals. In addition to intellectual property and technology law, I have litigated in the areas of anti-counterfeiting, unfair competition, civil RICO, construction law, and business contracts. Many (but not all) of my non-intellectual property cases have had some technical aspect to them.
Services for Startups
I began working with individual inventors and startup companies back during the "dot-com boom" of the late 1990s, and have continued doing so up to the present. I am well aware of the serious need my clients have to use their limited resources as efficiently as possible. In every situation my goal is to team with founders and company employees to identify and protect key intellectual property, whether by way of patent, trademark, copyright, or trade secrets. My experience includes creating and helping to implement internal protocols to protect company intellectual property in the form of employee non-disclosure and non-compete agreements, invention identification and assignment policies and procedures, trade secret identification and protection policies, and third-party non-disclosure agreements. I have also advised on the selection of corporate forms, and I provide incorporation services.
Services for Lenders and Venture Capital and Early-Stage Investors
Frequently an insurer or an investor will want to know more about a target company's intellectual property. By providing that kind of analysis, I can help potential and existing company lenders and investors to evaluate the company's intellectual property, which helps them make key decisions about their investment choices. The work I do includes analyzing and evaluating target company intellectual property, conducting IP due diligence in connection with pending investments, perfecting security interests in intellectual property, helping identify potential investment targets, and evaluating and reportnig on pending IP-related litigation involving the target company.
General Law Practice
My experience over the years has included work in a wide range of fields other than those described above. Please feel free to contact me to discuss how I can help you with your particular issue.
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