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Berkeley Law IP and Tech Month

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Berkeley Law and the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, a focal point for teaching, research, conferences, and student activities on issues at the intersection of law and tech is hosting its first-of-a-kind legal program, Berkeley Law IP and Tech Month.

Berkeley Law and the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, a focal point for teaching, research, conferences, and student activities on issues at the intersection of law and tech is hosting its first-of-a-kind legal program, Berkeley Law IP and Tech Month.In these highly-focused sessions that are curated through Berkeley Law, you can hear experts explain the key cases from the prior year and their relevance. Several Morrison & Foerster attorneys will be presenting during this month-long series.Join Morrison & Forrester partner Veronica Ascarrunz present on ITC Year in Review on Monday, May 2 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. PT.Join Morrison & Forrester attorney Roman Swoopes present on Patent Case Management Year in Review on Monday, May 9 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT.Join Morrison & Foerster attorneys Michael Ward and Elizabeth Freeman Rosenzweig present on Plant Variety Protection—Global Year in Review on Tuesday, May 17 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. PT.Join Morrison & Foerster partner Hogene Choi present on U.S. High-Tech Patent Prosecution Year in Review on Monday, May 23 from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. PT.<hr>

Berkeley Law IP and Tech Month

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Roman Swoopes is head of the litigation department for Morrison Foerster’s Palo Alto office. He focuses his practice on patent, copyright, and trade secret litigation and counseling. He represents clients in industries including computer software, hardware, and peripherals, data storage, digital imaging, consumer electronics, music, and graphic design.In a case the court dubbed the “World Series of IP Cases,” Roman successfully argued in court against partial summary judgment on a copyright claim and in support of a favorable claim construction at a Markman hearing. He has represented clients at intellectual property trials, where he worked closely with expert witnesses. Roman has considerable experience in the areas of copyrightable and patent-eligible subject matter for software. He has also represented clients in disputes involving open source software licenses, such as the GNU General Public License (GPL).In 2022 Roman was recognized as a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” as part of The Recorder’s California Legal Awards for his patent and copyright practice.  Roman was also profiled in 2020 by Bloomberg Law for its “They’ve Got Next” series which spotlights young lawyers who are raising the bar in their practices.Roman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Raymond T. Chen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and to the Honorable Ronald M. Whyte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Prior to law school, he worked at Accenture, one of the world’s largest information technology consulting companies.Roman received his J.D. from Stanford Law School. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Harvard University.Roman is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Roman A. Swoopes

Partner

Michael (Mike) Ward is global head of the Life Sciences + Healthcare Group, head of the Patent Group, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group, and co-chair of our global Food + Agriculture Group.As head of the Patent Group, Mike manages a team that includes 80+ Ph.D.s and 100+ attorneys and others with advanced scientific degrees in life sciences and related engineering disciplines. From small molecules and antibodies to gene editing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, MoFo has deep experience protecting some of the most important innovations in the life sciences and food and agriculture sectors.Recognized as “one of the world’s foremost plant and agriculture IP lawyers,” Mike manages a wide range of intellectual property issues related to plants and plant products. He and his team advise clients on plant and plant utility patents; licensing agreements for plant IP; litigation in U.S. state and federal court and before the International Trade Commission; and regulatory approvals from the USDA, FDA, and EPA for gene edited and genetically engineered plants.Mike is a Legal 500 US Hall of Fame lawyer for patent prosecution and is consistently named one of the leading IP lawyers by Managing Intellectual Property, Chambers USA and Chambers Global, and IAM Patent 1000. For his work across the life sciences sector, Mike was named San Francisco Biotechnology Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America in 2020 and is recommended for his patent strategy and prosecution practice in LMG Life Sciences. He also led the team that was named 2022 Patent Management and Strategy Firm of the Year at the 2022 LMG Life Sciences Americas Awards.Mike works closely with many clients to develop and manage their patent portfolios. He helps clients identify, monitor, and assess the infringement risks of third-party patents. He also assists clients in preparing both offensive and defensive patent portfolios, with a particular emphasis on drafting patent applications that will be utilized in licensing and in litigation efforts. His representative clients include:<ul><li>The California Table Grape Commission</li><li>Inari</li><li>Verinomics</li><li>Amycel</li><li>Driscoll’s</li><li>Terviva</li><li>Dole Fresh Foods</li></ul>For venture capitalists seeking to invest in early- and mid-stage companies, underwriters involved in IPOs, and companies seeking to acquire or merge with other companies, Mike has managed extensive IP diligence. His work includes assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of patent portfolios, evaluation of freedom to operate issues, and strategic recommendations for maximizing the value of patent portfolios going forward.Mike also works closely with the IP Litigation Group on various litigation matters including patent interferences to determine the first-to-invent and patent re-examination work and actively participates in both mediation and arbitration proceedings on behalf of clients in the life sciences and food and agriculture areas.Mike holds a Ph.D. in plant physiology (biochemistry) and an M.S. in agronomy from the University of California, Davis; a B.S. in biology from the University of California, Berkeley; and a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law. He was a post-doctoral fellow in plant molecular biology at the Harvard Medical School and the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he worked on the Arabidopsis genome project.He is a frequent lecturer and speaker. Among numerous speaking engagements, Mike is the IP instructor at the UC Davis Licensing Academy and founded Morrison Foerster’s annual Harvard Biotechnology Club Fall Patent Law Course.

Michael Ward

Chair of Life Sciences + Healthcare

Dr. Liz Freeman Rosenzweig focuses her practice on patent prosecution and intellectual property and regulatory counseling in the areas of life sciences and agricultural biotechnology, including AgTech; algae; environmental incentives such as carbon credits; crop science; gene editing; genetics; GM/GE plants; molecular biology; plant breeders’ rights/plant variety protection; plant breeding; plant IP; and soil technologies.Prior to joining the firm as an associate, Dr. Freeman Rosenzweig was a summer associate, a law clerk, and a scientific analyst intern at Morrison & Foerster, where she drafted office action responses for foreign and domestic patent applications, amended claims, drafted domestic utility and plant patent applications, and analyzed freedom to operate agreements.Liz earned her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. At Berkeley Law, Liz was an associate editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal, in which she published “<a href="https://btlj.org/2022/01/volume-35-issue-4/" target="_blank">A Framework for Patent Exhaustion of Self-Replicating Technologies</a>”. She was also vice president of Faculty Relations for the Patent Law Society; she also earned a Law & Technology Certificate from the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. Prior to law school, she received her Ph.D. in plant cell and molecular biology from Stanford University, where her doctoral research focused on high-efficiency carbon fixation in green algae. Her doctoral work was published in and featured on the cover of Cell. At Stanford, she designed and conducted experiments in algal cell biology using genetic engineering, recombinant protein design, fluorescent biosensors, quantitative confocal microscopy, and computational image analysis. Liz obtained her A.B. in biology magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, with a focus in biochemistry and a minor in Modern Hebrew.

Berkeley Law IP and Tech Month

02 May 2022 - 25 May 2022