Intellectual property & technology law · San Francisco

Patents and licences for companies that build the hard part.

A boutique of former engineers who became patent attorneys. We draft claims a competitor can't design around, and we negotiate the deals that turn a technical edge into leverage.

USPTO reg.
Registered patent bar
Founded
2015
Focus
Software · Semiconductors · Devices

Selected matters

// track record · representative work
MTR-0142
2024

Portfolio build-out for a Series B inference startup

Filed a 34-application portfolio covering model-compression and scheduling techniques ahead of a competitive round; structured to survive an acquirer's diligence.

PROSECUTION
34 filed
MTR-0119
2023

Cross-licence resolving a semiconductor dispute

Represented a fabless chip designer in an ITC-adjacent dispute; negotiated a royalty-bearing cross-licence that kept product on shelves through launch.

LICENSING
$61M
MTR-0097
2022

IP diligence & carve-out on a $2.4B acquisition

Ran technical diligence on 800+ assets, cleared open-source exposure, and drafted the IP schedules for a strategic acquirer's definitive agreement.

TRANSACTIONS
$2.4B deal
MTR-0081
2021

PTAB defence of a foundational imaging patent

Defeated an inter partes review petition against a client's core computational-photography patent; all challenged claims confirmed patentable.

DISPUTES
Claims upheld

What we do

01

Patent prosecution

Drafting and prosecution by attorneys who can read your codebase and your circuit diagrams.

USPCTEPOContinuations
02

Licensing & deals

Inbound and outbound licences, cross-licences, and the royalty structures that make them hold.

SaaSSEP/FRANDRoyalties
03

Litigation & PTAB

Infringement, IPR, and post-grant proceedings — asserting your patents and defending against theirs.

District courtIPRITC
04

Trademarks & brand

Clearance, registration, and enforcement for product names, marks, and trade dress worldwide.

ClearanceUSPTOMadrid
05

Open source & compliance

Audits, policy, and remediation so a licence obligation never surfaces mid-acquisition.

GPLSBOMAudits
06

Data & AI

Training-data rights, model licensing, and the IP questions generative systems raise.

DatasetsModel IPPrivacy

We were engineers first.

Every attorney here holds a technical degree and shipped real work before law school — compilers, silicon, medical devices. It means we don't need your CTO to translate. We read the spec, understand the invention, and write claims that map to how the technology actually works.

We stay small so a partner drafts your applications, not a first-year you never meet. Fixed fees on prosecution, and no matter opens without a scope you approved.

The attorneys

DR
Daniel Rennick
Founding Partner · Software & AI
J.D., Stanford Law
B.S. Computer Science, MIT
Reg. Patent Attorney #61,204
HS
Hana Sato
Partner · Semiconductors
J.D., UC Berkeley
Ph.D. Electrical Eng., Caltech
Reg. Patent Attorney #64,890
MO
Marcus Owens
Partner · Litigation & PTAB
J.D., Georgetown
B.S. Electrical Eng., Purdue
Fed. Circuit & N.D. Cal. bars
PN
Priya Nair
Counsel · Licensing & Deals
J.D., NYU
B.S. Bioengineering, UCSD
Prev. IP counsel, medtech
1,900+
Applications filed
94%
Allowance rate
$310M+
Licensing negotiated
40
Countries prosecuted