Posts Tagged: "Attorneys"

Rather than the drastic measure of abolishing § 101, such as that proposed by previous USPTO Director Kappos, we think that a simple change to § 101 that removes the confusing notion of “inventiveness” from statutory interpretation would do the trick. Our proposal strikes a middle ground, in that, while removing “inventiveness” concepts from § 101 analysis, it retains the historical exceptions rooted in pre-emption that were reiterated in the Triad.

Most CEOs won’t make a move without first consulting their general counsel or other legal adviser. But the general counsel seldom rises to the CEO spot. Why is that? Many corporate counsels work in large companies where each department—including legal—has very specific responsibilities and boundaries. Therefore, it’s harder for attorneys to get involved with key business, non-legal, initiatives that could demonstrate C-level potential. But the path from general counsel to CEO is becoming a lot more common.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), a tribunal of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has become an increasingly popular and efficient venue for resolving patent validity challenges since it was given increased responsibilities five years ago through the enactment of the America Invents Act (AIA). To help establish best practices for the unique practice and skills required before the PTAB and to foster communication among its various stakeholders, the PTAB Bar Association was formed by leading legal advocates with the mission to promote the highest professional and ethical standards among lawyers and stakeholders who appear before the PTAB.

Fish & Richardson announced today that C. Eric Schulman, formerly the Head of Intellectual Property (IP) for Uber Technologies, Inc., has joined the firm’s Silicon Valley office as a Principal in its Patent group. Before Uber, Schulman spent more than nine years in-house at Google Inc., where he served most recently as Legal Director. He brings to Fish a broad range of experience including expertise in patent and trademark portfolio development, IP licensing and acquisition, patent post-grant proceedings, patent and trademark litigation, standards bodies, copyright, open source, M&A, commercial transactions, collaborative structures, broad IP strategy, and legal management.

Morgan is experienced in managing and maintaining domestic and international trademark portfolios and regularly counsels clients on brand selection, clearance and strategy. She represents clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and manages all aspects of enforcing intellectual property rights, including prosecuting and defending actions before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, protecting intellectual property with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and representing clients in Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy proceedings. She is also experienced in negotiating and drafting a variety of intellectual property-related agreements, including assignment, license, co-existence and settlement agreements.

VLP Law Group LLP has announced that Edward Kwok has joined the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group as a partner based in Silicon Valley, California. Prior to joining VLP, Mr. Kwok was a Partner with Hogan Lovells US LLP. Mr. Kwok’s practice focuses on patent prosecution and Inter Partes adverse proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and intellectual property litigations in state and federal courts.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that John A. Squires has joined the firm as a partner in the New York office. Formerly a partner with Perkins Coie, Squires will continue his intellectual property practice, with an emphasis in IP transactions.

As anyone who’s worked at a law firm can attest, lawyers at a firm use each others’ experience to inform their strategy in a given case. Firm-wide emails asking if anyone has appeared in front of a particular judge or tribunal are routine and allow lawyers to benefit from the insights their colleagues provide. Big data analytics allow lawyers to gather this same information, but on a much larger scale. For instance, analytics platforms allow attorneys to view their judge’s complete history, including every decision issued and every case cited, to identify the legal precedent the judge finds most persuasive.

Baker Botts L.L.P., a leading international law firm, announced that Wayne Stacy and Sarah Guske will be joining the firm’s San Francisco office as Partners in the Intellectual Property practice group. They will join Stuart Plunkett and Jonathan Shapiro who joined the firm in May.

Fenwick & West announced that Ryan Straus and Dan Friedberg have joined the firm as counsel launching its Payment Systems practice. The addition of Straus and Friedberg adds significant payment systems depth to Fenwick’s growing FinTech practice, expanding the firm’s ability to advise clients on the legal, business and regulatory landscape around online and mobile payments, consumer and peer-to-peer lending, virtual and digital currency, the blockchain, as well as prepaid, loyalty and rewards programs.

Cozen O’Connor, an Am Law 100 firm, announced that it has finalized a deal to add a team of lawyers from Miami-based Feldman Gale, a nationally recognized intellectual property boutique. The lawyers have started working in Cozen O’Connor’s Intellectual Property Department across its Miami, New York and San Francisco offices.

Cozen O’Connor, an Am Law 100 firm, and Miami-based Feldman Gale, a nationally recognized intellectual property boutique, are pleased to announce that 15 lawyers from Feldman Gale will be joining Cozen O’Connor’s Intellectual Property Department. The transaction will boost the expansion of Cozen O’Connor’s Intellectual Property Department and continue the firm’s growth in South Florida and California. The group of lawyers brings substantial intellectual property strength in areas such as patent procurement, opinion work, and patent litigation in both federal courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), trademark procurement and litigation, non-compete litigation, information technology law, trade secrets, copyrights and business litigation. It is anticipated that Feldman Gale’s attorneys will join Cozen O’Connor in June 2016.

Global law firm Reed Smith has announced the appointment of intellectual property partner Jonathan Radcliffe to its Intellectual Property, Information and Innovation Group in London. With nearly 30 years’ experience practicing in the intellectual property field, Jonathan has built a strong IP practice with a focus on patent disputes.

With more than 15 years of experience in IP law, including several years as in-house counsel for a large German semiconductor company, Tim Wyckoff joins KDB from SpryIP, LLC, which he founded in 2009. His practice focuses on patent preparation and prosecution in electrical engineering, computer science and other technology applications, portfolio management and client counseling.

Alston & Bird recently announced that former federal prosecutor Michael Zweiback has rejoined the firm as partner in its Privacy & Data Security Practice and Government & Internal Investigations Group, bringing not only extensive experience in cybersecurity, but also an exceptional background in white collar criminal defense and government enforcement litigation. Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, he arrives from Arent Fox LLP, where he was a partner and co-leader of its Cybersecurity and Data Protection Group.