Michael North

Michael North

michaelnorthContact Info:
(650)856-7564
mnorth@northweber.com

Education:

  • University of Utah (B.S.E.E., B.A. German)
  • Boston University (J.D.)

Legal Work History:

  • Fenwick & West
  • McDermott, Will & Emery

Michael North is an attorney at North Weber & Baugh LLP., an intellectual property law firm located in Silicon Valley.

Mike represents technology companies in matters related to patent prosecution, patent licensing and transactional matters, patent litigation and IP due diligence.  Mike has been an adjunct professor at Santa Clara School of Law for approximately 15 years where he teaches a class on patent law and procedure.  Mike has also participated in numerous conferences, been a panelist in the Berkeley LLM International Summer program, and published patent-related articles including one that has been referenced in Congressional hearings.

Prior to becoming a California attorney, Mike worked as an electrical engineer for Motorola’s Satellite Communication Division, developing a high-bandwidth, low-power satellite communication platform.  Mike also worked in Washington DC at the U.S. Patent Office in the Special Program Examiner Office.

Mike received his undergraduate education at the University of Utah, graduating with a B.S. in electrical engineering and B.A. in German.  During his undergraduate studies, Mike worked at Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. as an engineering intern working in circuit design and simulation, and at Alpnet, Inc. as a German/English translator.  Mike attended law school at Boston University, graduating with a JD and was a note editor for The Boston University International Law Journal.

Mike sat on the U.S. Patent Law Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association.  Mike is also a member of the Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Intellectual Property Section of the American Bar Association, and IEEE.  Mike is listed in Marquis Who's Who and Who's Who in American Law as well as Strathmore's Who's Who.  Mike is also a Board Member of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

Patent Prosecution

Mike has represented highly-visible Silicon Valley startup companies as well as large multi-national corporations in obtaining high-quality patents.  Mike has developed valuable patent portfolios for startup companies that have been acquired or successfully gone through an IPO.  Mike has prosecuted hundreds of patents to issuance before the U.S. Patent Office and foreign Patent Offices.  Using his legal experience and technical background, Mike focuses on generating valuable and useable patents while balancing cost and efficiency.  Mike’s technical expertise includes computer software, security, chip and semiconductor technologies, signal processing and microcontroller architectures, robotics, networking and communication.

Patent Licensing and Transactions

Mike has resolved numerous patent disputes for his clients without resorting to costly litigation.  Mike has been adverse to many of the highly-visible patent monetization programs of publicly traded companies and saved his clients multiple tens of millions of dollars by leveraging defensive patents during the negotiation process.  Mike has also developed multiple patent licensing programs including a licensing program related to secure transactions for a publicly-traded Silicon Valley corporation and a licensing program for a premier Asian university.

Patent Litigation

Mike has been involved in patent litigation before the Northern District of California, Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Pennsylvania and Eastern District of Virginia.  These litigations have involved patents related to security, signal processing, networking and microcontroller architectures.  Mike has also been an advisor to litigation firms and supported cases in resolving patent-specific legal and technical issues.