Alison M. Tucher

Partner

San Francisco, (415) 268-7269

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Education

Williams College (B.A., 1984)
;
University of Cambridge (M.A., 1990)
;
Stanford Law School (J.D., 1992)

Practices

Intellectual Property Litigation

Trials

Appellate + Supreme Court

Bar Admissions

California

Clerkships

Justice David H. Souter, U.S. Supreme Court (1993-1994)
Hon. William A. Norris, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1992-1993)

Alison Tucher has a complex commercial litigation practice with an emphasis on intellectual property matters. She has handled patent cases for a variety of technology clients, licensing cases, trademark actions, and a range of other commercial disputes.

Ms. Tucher's cases are in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit, district courts around the country, and California courts. Her trial practice at Morrison & Foerster has resulted in numerous successes, some with precedential results. For example, in In re EchoStar 448 F.3d. 1294 (Fed. Cir. 2006), she successfully established the scope of work-product immunity for opinion counsel's papers.

In her career as a criminal trial lawyer, Ms. Tucher tried 19 criminal cases to juries in Santa Clara County. She later won the freedom of a man wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he did not commit.

While earning her B.A., Ms. Tucher was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, and recipient of the Harry S. Truman and Herschel Smith Scholarships. In law school, she was elected to the Order of the Coif, and was also a Book Review Editor for the Stanford Law Review.

Ms. Tucher currently teaches Trade Secret Law at Stanford Law School.

Technicolor Inc.

(United States District Court, Northern District of California). Defended a subsidiary and its customers against allegations of patent infringement. The case settled after the district court issued a claim construction order adopting in all significant respects our proposed claim constructions.

United States ex rel. Richard Wilson and Chris Maranto v. Maxxam Inc., et al.

(United States District Court, Northern District of California). Obtained a favorable settlement for client in a False Claims Act case brought by two California state agency employees against Maxxam and its principal shareholder Charles Hurwitz (former owners of Pacific Lumber Co.). The claim was based on alleged fraud related to the sale of the Headwaters Forest to the United States government. Settlement was reached after parties had completed six days of a 15-day jury trial. Final amount of settlement was a small fraction compared to the original damages. There was no admission of liability by either defendant. State court dismissal on Noerr-Pennington grounds (First Amendment right to petition) was the first time this doctrine has been applied to defeat a false claims act case.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

(U.S. Supreme Court). Briefed a civil RICO issue in the United States Supreme Court.

Confidential Client

(AAA Arbitration and Santa Clara Superior). Conducted a successful two-week arbitration for an entrepreneur with an international GPS-technology business. The case was a licensing dispute that went to the heart of the company's business model.

Seoul Semiconductor Co. v. Nichia Corporation

(United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas). Successfully defended high-stakes patent litigation on behalf of Nichia Corporation against Seoul Semiconductor Co. concerning light-emitting diodes. The case settled on favorable terms shortly after the close of fact discovery and a hearing on claim construction.

Nikon Corporation v. ASM Lithography BV

(Northern District of California). Represented Nikon Corporation in patent litigation with ASM Lithography and Carl Zeiss SMT, A.G. concerning optical microlithography. The case settled after the defendants paid Nikon $146 million.

In re Seagate Technology Opinion of Counsel.

Successfully established the scope of work-product immunity for opinion counsel's papers. See In re EchoStar, 448 F.3d. 1294 (Fed. Cir. 2006).

Rick Walker

Obtained the freedom of a man imprisoned twelve years for a murder he did not commit.