Semiconductor

In today's advanced information age, the semiconductor industry plays a crucial role in nearly every high-tech product created. Perkins Coie provides a pragmatic approach to unique issues faced by our semiconductor clients. Having represented both start-up companies and established players for more than 30 years, we know the semiconductor industry along with the legal challenges that semiconductors companies face. We have extensive experience representing:

• Vertically integrated semiconductor companies
• Fabless semiconductor companies
• Manufacturers that purchase large quantities of integrated circuits
• Semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers
• Electric design automation companies

Semiconductor industry companies whom we have represented in recent years include: Intel, Intersil, Maxim Integrated Products, Micron Technology, Microchip Technology, Monolithic Power Systems, Semitool, Spreadtrum Communications and Vitesse.

Our clients benefit from our interdisciplinary approach, which combines extensive legal and technical experience with strong corporate and litigation resources in a leading technology law firm. We are involved in complex, high-stakes patent litigation and regularly advise clients on cutting-edge patent law and policy matters, such as patent reform, legislative issues and regulations, including filing amicus briefs in the Federal Circuit and in the U.S. Supreme Court in cases significant to our semiconductor clients. In doing so, we not only argue what the law should be, but also explain the practical importance of the legal issues in the real world.

Our attorneys have significant experience handling a range of legal needs for our semiconductor clients:

Patent Litigation

• Prosecute and defend semiconductor industry patent cases throughout the United States, including in jurisdictions such as the Northern and Central Districts of California and the Eastern District of Texas.
• Experienced in every phase of the patent litigation process, from preliminary injunction hearings, Markman hearings and ITC litigation to jury and bench trials nationwide.
• More than 70 litigators with experience in almost every U.S. jurisdiction, and offices located in major patent centers including Menlo Park, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Patent Procurement

• Prosecute patents in technical areas ranging from analog and digital circuit design; complex mixed-signal integrated circuits; general semiconductor fabrication and process patents (e.g., CMP, CVD, ALD, lithography and electrochemical deposition/polishing); baseband processors; volatile and nonvolatile memory; inverters; regulators; high speed serial bus integrated circuits; probing/testing technologies; and semiconductor structures and integration flows.
• More than 60 lawyers and agents registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with significant industry experience as practicing engineers or scientists or advanced degrees in their technical fields.

Intellectual Property and Other Litigation

• Handle complex litigation cases involving such issues as copyrights; trademarks; trade secret and unfair competition; antitrust; securities and corporate governance; contracts; product warranty cases; and distributor disputes.
• More than 300 litigators with extensive jury and bench trial experience in major state and federal jurisdictions and at every appellate level through the U.S. Supreme Court.

Licensing

• Practice includes licensing, research, development, supply, distribution, consulting and service agreements; outsourcing; joint ventures and strategic alliances; patent licensing programs; Internet and e-commerce; marketing, promotion and merchandising agreements; and IP auditing and counseling.
• More than 50 attorneys with domestic and international technical licensing experience.

Corporate Transactions

• Serve both new and more mature semiconductor companies in areas including private and public debt and equity transactions; technology transfer; mergers and acquisitions; due diligence reviews; secured transactions; research and development arrangements; sales and supply agreements; antitrust and standard-setting activities; corporate governance; and employee benefits and executive compensation.
• Assist semiconductor start-ups with entity formation and venture capital finance and often act as outside general counsel, handling the various everyday legal issues that arise for such companies.
• More than 100 attorneys who provide finance, transaction and counseling services for businesses ranging in size from start-ups to FORTUNE 100 companies.