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Copyright Comment: All Shook Up

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We are Morrison Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. The Financial Times has named us to its list of most innovative law firms in North America every year that it has published its Innovative Lawyers Reports in the region,and Chambers Asia-Pacific has named us the Japan International Firm of the Year for the sixth year in a row. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger.Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

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Michael Jacobs and J Alexander Lawrence examine US statutory copyright termination.<a target="_blank" href="https://media2.mofo.com/v3/assets/blt5775cc69c999c255/blt82429b5fb4186963/6273ef2c0d4d8e1d7f110b7f/190700-all-shook-up.pdf">Read the full article</a>.

Copyright Comment: All Shook Up

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Many of the world’s leading technology and life sciences companies call on Michael Jacobs to lead trial teams in their most complex litigation. He served as co-lead counsel in two of the most-watched intellectual property battles of recent memory, including a high-profile smartphone case leading to a jury verdict of over $1 billion. He defended Uber against Waymo’s autonomous vehicle trade secret claims. And the life sciences industry’s first and most successful biotechnology company looks to Michael when patent and licensing disputes arise. Michael co-founded and served as co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group.Chambers has called him “a real star” and a “pillar of the Silicon Valley patent litigation community.” Clients have described him as “a very calm, strategic, and practical lawyer… [who] brings a wealth of experience, formidable intellect and legal skills, and a practical, client-friendly approach to all his engagements.” Michael is listed in Band 1 by Chambers USA 2023 and 2022 in its California Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation category, and named to the Legal 500 US 2023 Hall of Fame for Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation. Michael has won the California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) award three times, first for his advocacy on behalf of Intel in the Intel v. Hamidi “trespass to chattels” case, then in 2012 for his defense of Novell in SCO v. Novell, and again in 2014 for his work on a billion dollar smartphone trial.Michael’s work on several landmark cases has helped shape the laws governing emerging technologies.Early in his career, he led the technical team that represented Fujitsu in its landmark operating system software arbitration with IBM. He represented the motion picture industry in the On Command Video case, which established that on-demand video systems require a license under copyright’s public performance right. Michael represented Novell in the widely reported SCO v. Novell Linux litigation, prevailing in a bench trial on Novell’s multimillion dollar claims, defeating SCO’s $200 million claim in a three-week jury trial, and defending those results on appeal in the 10th Circuit. He also represented Autodesk in the Vernor v. Autodesk case, which established that copyright’s first sale doctrine does not immunize the re-sale of licensed software.In addition, he has represented leading life sciences companies in their cutting edge litigation, including Chiron in its hepatitis C virus protease litigation; Abraxis BioScience in a nanoparticle anticancer treatment dispute; QLT in its litigation with TAP Pharmaceutical involving the Eligard anticancer treatment; Genentech in its patent dispute with Phigenix concerning Genentech’s blockbuster drug, Kadcyla, and against Eli Lilly; and Washington University in a life sciences patent valuation dispute with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). He has also handled numerous high-profile arbitrations, several of which involved the interplay between arbitration and court proceedings.Michael also achieved victories in several important pro bono cases. He was co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the landmark Williams v. State of California class action, which led to a settlement in which the state undertook to address shocking conditions in California’s lowest performing schools. He also represented Jewish and Muslim individuals and organizations in a successful pre-election challenge to an anti-circumcision initiative slated for San Francisco’s ballot.Michael routinely speaks on cutting-edge intellectual property issues. For example, he has participated for many years in the Federal Judicial Center–Berkeley Center for Law & Technology’s education program for federal judges.

Michael A. Jacobs

Partner

Alex advises on all aspects of complex commercial litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts and in arbitration. He has represented U.S. and international clients in actions involving intellectual property rights, trade secrets, securities laws, and a wide array of complex commercial disputes.Alex regularly advises clients on e–discovery issues and best practices as co–chair of our E–Discovery Task Force. He also serves as co–chair of our Commercial Litigation Group’s Technology Transactions Working Group and has been a member of the Standing Committee on the Judiciary of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Before joining our team, he practiced labor and employment law for a large international firm, representing clients in federal and state courts throughout the country.Alex has appeared in the National Law Journal’s 2015 and 2017 Pro Bono Hot List for his work protecting reproductive rights, and appeared again in 2018 for his work protecting individuals who were jailed for their inability to pay court fees and fines.He also has won the JD Supra Readers’ Choice Award for 2016 as the top author in the area of e–discovery. He has written extensively on legal issues in publications such as Law360, Intellectual Property Strategist, IP Litigator, Licensing Journal, Bloomberg BNA, ACC Docket, San Francisco Daily Journal, Financier Worldwide, Mealey’s Litigation Report, and Socially Aware: The Social Media Law Update. He also has been featured or quoted in articles in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Austin American–Statesman, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Forbes, Huffington Post, Law360, Elle, American Lawyer, and National Law Journal.

J. Alexander Lawrence

Patent Litigation