Morrison & Foerster has one of the most extensive software industry practices of any law firm, actively representing numerous
vendors and users of software. The firm regularly counsels clients on a wide variety of software-related issues, including
intellectual property protection, licensing and acquisition; corporate and finance; M&A, joint ventures and strategic alliances;
litigation; and tax.
The firm is distinguished by its long history of representing clients in this sector, the geographical breadth of its software
practice in the U.S., Asia and Europe, and the emphasis the firm places on understanding its clients’ businesses and the environments
in which they operate. The firm has more than 60 attorneys and patent agents with advanced degrees (M.S., Ph.D.) in technology
areas such as electrical engineering, semiconductor design, computer science and computer engineering.
The firm has handled several very high profile software industry disputes, including its representation of Fujitsu in its
mainframe operating system software arbitration with IBM, which broke new ground in the application of alternative dispute
resolution techniques to high-technology matters.
Morrison & Foerster’s software industry clients include both large and small businesses in the consumer, enterprise, data
storage, multimedia, video game and web-based software sectors. In addition, the firm has an active practice representing
large-scale users of software in licensing and outsourcing technology transactions.
Among the firm’s software industry clients are BEA Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Digimarc, DreamWorks Animation SKG, Fujitsu,
Indigo Software, Novell, Oracle, Saba Software, Sega, and Yahoo!
