Heller Ehrman Announces New Patent Services Strategy

03.07.2008

(MENLO PARK, Calif.) March 7, 2008 – Heller Ehrman LLP, a law firm with 650 attorneys and 14 offices internationally, announced a new patent services strategy to serve the firm’s technology clients in Silicon Valley. At the core of its strategy, Heller Ehrman will work with premier patent prosecution boutiques to provide the best services for the firm’s clients.

One example of this strategy is Heller Ehrman’s work with Van Pelt, Yi & James. “Our work with Van Pelt, Yi, & James provides us with the ability to offer our tech clients, both private and public, with high-value, cost-effective patent prosecution services," said Mark Weeks, a Heller Ehrman shareholder and chair of the firm’s Business Department.

"For some time now, we have looked at various models for providing these services to tech clients in the Valley and concluded that working with firms such as Van Pelt, Yi & James offers both large and small clients an exceptional alternative," said Heller Ehrman Chairman Matt Larrabee. “This approach is consistent with the traditional VLG approach to patent prosecution – an approach through which we have worked with several high quality patent prosecution boutiques for many years. Our work with firms like Van Pelt, Yi & James complements the work of our in-house patent prosecution team, which will continue to provide patent services where that is the best solution for our clients."

Lee Van Pelt, one of the founders of Van Pelt, Yi & James, said that "Heller Ehrman's Corporate/VLG attorneys are outstanding and they have helped start and grow some of the most interesting and important companies in Silicon Valley. The opportunity to work with them has been very important to us over the years. If a company is working with Heller Ehrman’s Corporate/VLG practice, then you want to be their patent attorney."

Van Pelt, Yi & James has evaluated patent strategies for investors and planned the patent strategy for emerging companies in Silicon Valley for more than a decade. The firm manages and prosecutes patents; provides litigation support, licensing, and strategic counseling; and provides patent opinions. The firm's clients range from international corporations to startups. The firm's lawyers have expertise with electrical, software, and mechanical technologies.

Heller Ehrman's Intellectual Property Litigation practice consists of more than 80 IP litigators. The firm's IP clients include industry leaders such as Apple, Samsung, Seagate, Ariba, Genentech, Palm, and Texas Instruments. The firm's IP litigation practice was recognized in 2006 by The American Lawyer as one of the top five practices in the country and the firm has won 16 trials concerning IP disputes since 2003.

Heller Ehrman Venture Law Group is one of the premier emerging technology practices in the U.S. With more than 100 attorneys in 14 cities throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, Heller Ehrman’s Corporate/VLG practice combines senior-level counseling and extensive industry knowledge to help emerging technology companies grow and prosper. The firm’s Corporate/VLG attorneys work in partnership with clients to build and represent deal-intensive emerging growth companies, both public and private, as well as with the venture capital and investment banking firms that support them.

About Heller Ehrman LLP

Heller Ehrman LLP has 650 attorneys and professionals in 14 offices worldwide – Anchorage, Alaska; Beijing; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; Madison, Wis.; New York; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Silicon Valley (Menlo Park, Calif.); Singapore; and Washington, D.C.