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Townsend Announces 2008 Partners
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Record Class of Eleven Named to Partnership in Year of Record Growth
San Francisco, CA -- Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP, an intellectual property law firm of more than 230 attorneys and patent professionals, announced today the election of eleven attorneys to the partnership of the firm, effective January 1, 2008.
The election of Townsend's new partners caps off a year of impressive growth for the firm. In addition to adding more than 35 lawyers (a growth rate of more than 20%), the firm also expanded geographically with the addition of a new Washington, DC office, which is now staffed by six partners and two associates.
"I'm thrilled to welcome these eleven outstanding attorneys to the partnership," remarked firm chairman Jim Gilliland. "Our firm has reached a number of important milestones this year. In addition to our expansion throughout the U.S., these new partners will help us to leverage this dramatic growth across all of our practice areas."
Townsend's new partners hail from six of the firm's seven U.S. offices: San Francisco, Palo Alto, Walnut Creek, San Diego, Seattle and Denver. The new partners also represent each of the firm's major practice areas, focusing primarily on patent and other IP litigation, patent prosecution and technology transactions.
Townsend's new partners include: Kenneth Chang, Ko-Fang Chang, Cathy Cretsinger, Raymond Hom, Matthew Hulse, Chad King, Stephen Kong, Babak Kusha, Angus MacDonald, Alan Minsk and Frank Mycroft.
Kenneth S. Chang, 37, is a member of the Litigation Group and practices in the firm's Denver, Colorado office. Mr. Chang specializes in patent litigation, both in federal courts and before the U.S. International Trade Commission, focusing on technologies concerning semiconductor processing, biotechnology and medical devices, and software. Additionally, Mr. Chang has extensive experience handling trademark matters, including litigation, registration disputes, and portfolio management. Mr. Chang also has been appointed a Special Prosecutor for the City and County of Denver. Mr. Chang is a 2000 honors graduate of the University of Denver College of Law. He received a Master of Science in Physiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center in 1998, and a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity University in 1992.
Ko-Fang Chang, 35, is a member of the Electronics & Software Group and practices in the firm's Palo Alto, California office. Mr. Chang's practice is dedicated to patent prosecution and counseling in the electrical and computer arts, with emphasis on strategic patent portfolio development. He also represents clients in the analysis of patent infringement and validity in the context of evaluation, licensing, and litigation. In addition, Mr. Chang has extensive experience representing both patent owners and third-party requesters in ex parte and inter partes reexaminations before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Chang was an electrical engineer responsible for hardware and software design for satellite communication systems. Mr. Chang is a 2000 graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He received a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Rice University in 1995 and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rice University in 1994.
Cathy E. Cretsinger, Ph.D., 40, is a member of the Electronics & Software Group and practices in the firm's Palo Alto, California office. Dr. Cretsinger's practice focuses on patent prosecution, analysis, and enforcement in an array of technologies including 3D graphics, video drivers, wireless communication, networking, photonics and optical devices, memory circuits, microprocessor architectures, Internet search technologies and e-commerce, nanotechnology, and aviation. Dr. Cretsinger is a 2001 graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in Physics in 1996, an M.A. in Physics from the University of Rochester in 1992; and a B.S. in Physics from the University of Arizona, summa cum laude, in 1990.
Raymond B. Hom, 45, is a member of the Electronics & Software Group and practices in the firm's San Diego, California office. Mr. Hom prepares and prosecutes patent applications, as well as performs intellectual property due diligence. He is proficient in numerous areas of technology, including wireless communications, communication protocols, signal processing, network systems, analog and digital hardware, and instrumentation. Mr. Hom is a 2001 graduate from the University of San Diego School of Law. He received an M.S. From San Diego State University in Electrical Engineering in 1993 and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1985 from the University of California, San Diego.
Matthew R. Hulse, 34, is a member of the Litigation Group and practices in the firm's San Francisco, California office. He specializes in patent infringement and other intellectual property litigation. He has litigated cases involving a wide range of technologies, including computer hardware and software, medical devices, semiconductor manufacturing, and biotechnology. Mr. Hulse is a 2000 graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He received a B.S. from Stanford University in 1995 in Mechanical Engineering.
Chad E. King, 34, is a member of the Electronics & Software Group and practices in the firm's Denver, Colorado office. Mr. King's practice focuses on all aspects of procuring and protecting intellectual property, with a focus on patent prosecution and litigation in the areas of electronics and software. Mr. King is a 2000 graduate of Cornell Law School, magna cum laude. He received a B.S. from the University of Colorado in Civil/Environmental Engineering in 1995.
Stephen T. Kong, 37, is a member of the Technology Transactions Group and practices in the firm's San Francisco, California office. His practice concentrates on intellectual property licensing, technology transactions, advising on intellectual property issues in corporate transactions and copyright counseling. He focuses on legal issues in the software industry including legal issues unique to open source software, software development and the Internet. He also advises athletes on their rights of publicity and intellectual property issues related to their name and image. He is a 1995 graduate of Emory University School of Law. He received a B.A. from the University of California at San Diego in Quantitative Economics and Decision Sciences in 1992.
Babak Kusha, 45, is a member of the Medical & Mechanical Devices Group and practices in the firm's San Francisco, California office. Mr. Kusha's practice emphasizes patent prosecution, particularly in the electromechanical, mechanical, biomedical, software, semiconductor processing, integrated optics and signal processing arts. Mr. Kusha assists clients with patentability assessments, validity and/or infringement analysis, due diligence reviews and freedom to operate analyses. He is a 1999 graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law, the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology. He received a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in Nuclear Engineering in 1986, and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in Mechanical Engineering in 1984.
Angus M. MacDonald, 32, is a member of the Litigation Group and practices in the firm's San Francisco, California office. Mr. MacDonald's practice focuses on all areas of intellectual property litigation, including patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret litigation, in the state courts, federal courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Mr. MacDonald is a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Davis School of Law. In 1996, he received B.A.s in both Political Science and History from the University of California, San Diego.
Alan D. Minsk, 51, is a member of the Electronics & Software Group and practices in the firm's Seattle, Washington office. Mr. Minsk has extensive experience as a patent strategist, specializing in the development and strategic management of patent portfolios. Mr. Minsk' practice focuses on protecting and exploiting innovations in the electronics, telecommunications, software, and eCommerce areas. He is a 1991 graduate of Harvard Law School and received an M.A. in Physics and an A.B. in Astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley.
Frank J. Mycroft Ph.D., 54, is a member of the Biotechnology & Chemistry Group and practices in the firm's Walnut Creek, California office. His practice focuses on patent prosecution and freedom-to-operate opinions. Dr. Mycroft is a 1999 graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He received a Ph.D from the University of California, Berkeley in Environmental Health Sciences in 1984, a M.S. in Pharmacology from Stanford University in 1977, and graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a B.S. degree in Biochemistry.
Townsend teams with businesses, inventors, entrepreneurs, scientists and investors to protect their innovative products and ideas. With offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Walnut Creek, San Diego, Denver, Seattle, Washington, DC and Tokyo, Townsend has more than 230 attorneys and patent professionals, many with advanced technical degrees and extensive scientific and business experience. For more information on Townsend, please visit our Web site: www.townsend.com.
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