Marc David Peters is head of the Litigation Department in the firm’s Palo Alto office.
He focuses on representing clients in litigation and counseling involving electronics, semiconductor, 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, notebook computers, modems, graphics accelerators, video-on-demand servers, and network quality-of-service monitoring.
Dr. Peters's experience also includes representing clients in a variety of industries (such as semiconductor, medical device, and energy companies) and in trade secret, antitrust, copyright, and trademark matters. He has litigated cases in multiple venues, including Texas, Delaware, California, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Nevada.
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 also helped obtain summary judgment on behalf of California's foster parents, in a pro bono case brought in conjunction with the Children's Advocacy Institute. California was adjudged to violate federal law by failing to consider 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. Having obtained judgment for its clients, the Morrison & Foerster team continues its work to ensure California begins to comply with federal law.
Before becoming an attorney, Dr. Peters was a member of the scientific team that discovered the top quark 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.