Steve is a registered patent attorney with a background in electrical engineering and has prepared and prosecuted numerous US patent applications for clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies in various technology areas. He also has an extensive experience in IP transaction work as well as IP litigation support work.

 

Steve started his legal career in Silicon Valley while working for two IP boutique firms there. During this period, He prepared and prosecuted US patent applications for high-profile Silicon Valley clients in various technology areas, such as programmable chips, mixed signal semiconductors, flash memory, interactive learning devices, visual computing technology, handheld communication devices, computer software, microprocessor, consumer electronics, etc. As a part of his work there, Steve participated in numerous client counseling sessions as well as invention harvesting sessions and disclosure meetings with inventors and in-house legal counsels.

 

Following his stint in Silicon Valley, Steve moved to Korea and worked for a major Korean patent firm. As a part of his work there, Steve prepared and prosecuted US patent applications for Korean multinational companies and helped to manage their counterpart Chinese, EP, JP, and Korean patent applications. He also traveled to the clients’ domestic and overseas R&D centers to harvest inventions and train the engineers on the US patent law. Additionally, Steve developed and managed the clients’ strategic patent portfolios and cooperated with US and EP practitioners on patent appeals for some of the clients’ key patent applications.

 

Having had more than a decade long law firm experience both in the US and Korea, Steve became an in-house patent counsel for major multi-national company. As a patent portfolio manager for key technology area of the company, he provided sound legal advice for the business on R&D areas in which to pursue patent applications, supported patent committees in reviewing invention disclosures and reshaped his patent portfolios in accordance with the realignment of the company’s patent strategy with its business strategy. 

 

Aside from the patent prosecution and portfolio management work, Steve also analyzed patents for invalidity and/or non-infringement, authored the resulting opinions and performed due diligences related to IP transactions. Additionally, he prepared, reviewed and negotiated various contracts, including NDAs, joint development agreements, confidential agreements, MOUs, licensing agreements, asset purchase agreements, service agreements, etc. He also successfully negotiated and completed several patent sales transactions on behalf of his clients.