Marc David Peters is head of the Litigation Department in the firm’s Palo Alto office.
He represents clients in litigation and counseling involving semiconductor, electronics, and computer-related technologies. His cases have involved technologies such as semiconductor fabrication equipment, gallium-nitride-based laser diodes and LEDs, hyperthreaded processors, optoelectronic transceivers, surgical lasers, synchronization software, modems, and video-on-demand servers.
Dr. Peters led the team representing Nichia Corporation in high-stakes patent litigation against Seoul Semiconductor Co. concerning short-wavelength laser diodes and LEDs. In addition to providing effective case and discovery management, Dr. Peters developed the technology tutorial and arguments that led to a successful claim construction outcome for our client. The case settled favorably shortly after the claim construction hearing.
Recently, Dr. Peters helped obtain summary judgment on behalf of California's foster parents, in a pro bono case brought with the Children's Advocacy Institute. California was adjudged to violate federal law by failing to calculate and pay for the actual costs of raising foster children. As a direct result of the State's failure to reimburse foster parents as required by federal law, California's foster care system is less effective and more expensive than it should be. For their work, the Morrison & Foerster team received the 2010 President's Pro Bono Service Award from the California State Bar, and the case was selected as one of five Outstanding Pro Bono Projects of 2010 by the Daily Journal. The team successfully defended the judgment in an appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Dr. Peters is a contributing author of the Patent Case Management Judicial Guide, published in 2009 by the Federal Judicial Center and in 2010 by LexisNexis. The guide is a comprehensive overview of best practices and procedures in patent cases and is provided to all federal district judges.
Before becoming an attorney, Dr. Peters was a member of the scientific team that discovered the top quark. He conducted his research at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is a co-author of over one hundred papers in refereed journals. During graduate school, Dr. Peters received the UC Berkeley Faculty Associate Award for excellence in teaching, and authored the Physics 111: Laboratory Electronics course manual.
Dr. Peters is co-chair of the Stanford Alumni Regional Law Chapter for Silicon Valley, a Life Member of the American Physical Society, and a Barrister of the San Francisco Bay Area Intellectual Property Inn of Court. While earning his J.D., Dr. Peters was President of the Stanford Law & Technology Association and an associate editor of the Stanford Law Review.