Mountain View, CA (April 9, 2014) – Fenwick & West is pleased to announce that partners Andrew Bridges, Bob Hulse, Jennifer Kelly, Rajiv Patel and Darryl Woo have been recognized by the Daily Journal as among California’s Top Intellectual Property Attorneys. Compiled annually out of hundreds of nominations based on editorial research, the Top IP list includes attorneys who “have helped to advance technological innovation and change the law during the past year, handling work critical to the future of the entertainment, medical and technology industries.”
Chambers Global-ranked intellectual property litigation partner Andrew Bridges represents Internet, technology and consumer-focused companies in trial and appellate litigation and arbitration and provides strategic counseling in high-stakes matters. He oversees the management of global portfolios and the coordination of foreign litigation matters for innovators and companies around the globe.
"I really am fully a copyright litigator, fully a trademark litigator, and fully an Internet litigator," Bridges told the Daily Journal, adding, “I really specialize in hard-fought cutting edge cases."
Partner Bob Hulse helps high technology and life sciences companies develop and curate powerful patent portfolios to protect innovative technologies and defend against patent trolls. As the Daily Journal notes, “Hulse cut his teeth, and his reputation, as lead outside patent counsel for Facebook Inc., having secured its first-issued patent relating to its newsfeed feature."
With clients like Flipboard Inc., Chegg Inc., Marketo Inc., Livescribe Inc. and Delphix Corp., among others, he tells the Daily Journal that more recently, he’s turned his focus to financial and digital health products.
“It's a growing field,” he told the Daily Journal of digital health. “There are a lot of new startup companies that are bringing wearable device technology to health care problems.”
He added, “Being a jack-of-all-trades, it's a natural fit to do medical device work."
Among the foremost authorities on intellectual property issues in the gaming industry, Jennifer Kelly helps gaming companies protect and defend their intellectual property.
"Game cloning is rampant, and everybody is jumping on the bandwagon,” she told the Daily Journal.
Currently representing King.com in game cloning copyright claims against rival 6waves, Kelly calls cloning “within the sweet spot of my practice.”
With clients like GoPro and Twitter, the Daily Journal describes patent partner Rajiv Patel's clients as the "top startup and emerging companies."
“When Twitter Inc. received a demand letter alleging patent infringement from International Business Machines Corp., the San Francisco-based microblogging platform turned to Patel and his Fenwick & West team for guidance,” theDaily Journal profile of Patel opens.
Acting as a defacto in-house patent counsel, Patel typically works with clients from the onset, from developing a patent strategy to portfolio development, patent prosecution and patent pre-litigation and litigation counseling. Most recently, Patel, who has worked with Twitter on its patent portfolio development and strategy since 2007, represented Twitter in what the Daily Journal calls “Twitter’s first major patent transaction,” its acquisition of more than 900 patents from International Business Machines (IBM).
"It was nice to see the company further enhance their [intellectual property] position,” Patel told the Daily Journal, adding that patent acquisitions have become a trend recently.
Partner Darryl Woo obtained a landmark victory in December that limited the statutory authority of the International Trade Commission to remedy indirect patent infringement. Well-known in patent litigation circles as an attorney who comes up with novel ways to successfully defend his clients against patent litigation claims, Woo was the first to argue that the ITC’s statutory authority does not extend to allegations of induced infringement where the direct infringement first occurs after importation.
“The ITC is a specialized body designed to remedy unfair trade practices,” Woo told the Daily Journal.
“I find it rather curious that some practitioners are siding with the ITC, because the statutory language is clear and the ruling is consistent with the statutory scheme of the ITC's enforcement via U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” he added.
With five partners named to the Daily Journal's Top IP list, Fenwick is among law firms with the most intellectual property attorneys recognized this year. Additionally, Fenwick attorneys are recognized across the intellectual property spectrum – from ITC litigators to patent attorneys to copyright and trademark litigators. Fenwick's intellectual property team is dedicated to providing clients with the best representation across all areas of intellectual property. Whether it be a prosecution, portfolio development or litigation matter, Fenwick’s intellectual property attorneys cooperate across practice areas and specialties to ensure that clients receive the best possible representation.
About Fenwick & West
Fenwick & West provides comprehensive legal services to ground-breaking technology and life sciences companies at every stage of their lifecycle. We craft innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions for established and emerging companies on issues ranging from venture capital, public offerings, joint ventures, M&A and strategic relationships, to intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, taxation, antitrust, and employment and labor law. For more than four decades, Fenwick has helped some of the world's most recognized companies become and remain market leaders.