Adam Mishcon, Esq.

Adam has been General Counsel for several tech startups, including companies funded by Sequoia Capital, 500 Startups, Google Ventures, etc.  Adam practiced with a large commercial firm, then coded as a developer, before returning to law - focused on startups, financing, contracts, and licensing.

Adam has an engineering degree with  a triple-major in electrical engineering, computer science and math, and a law degree from Duke Law School.  Adam is or has been a member of the Committee on Standards and Open Source of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association (SVIPLA),  the Intellectual Property specialty group of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society Technical Committee on Security and Privacy (TCSP), the Privacy Bar Section of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), and TechGC (a private, invitation-only, community for General Counsels of leading venture capital firms and venture-backed companies).  

Adam has been a Co-Founder, Board Member, Executive, and General Counsel for Sencha Inc., a Sequoia Capital funded Open Source software company.  As part of the founding team, Adam lead much of the business side of the company in the early days, then drafted a business plan, made introductions at top VC’s, and closed a $14MM Series A round with Sequoia.  From there we grew the company to over 100 employees, significant revenues, millions of customers, and additional fundings.  Sencha continues to be a leader in web application development platforms.  Adam was also General Counsel for High Fidelity, a Google Ventures funded company founded by Second Life founder Philip Rosedale to create a next-generation virtual world interactions and experiences.  Adam started his legal career as an attorney in corporate matters, commercial finance, real estate, and intellectual property with the top national law firm of Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.

Adam co-drafted the form license agreement (EULA) for attorneys across the country, as published by the AIPLA.  Adam has also had the honor of lecturing on contractual issues for TechGC, speaking on Open Source Licensing and related issues at the American Conference Institute’s 18th Annual Practical and Tactical Art of the Deal, as a speaker for the prominent Bay area incubator 500 Startups, and for other audiences.  Adam attended the California and Washington Bar Associations' annual Intellectual Property Institutes, and the Annual Meeting of the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

KEY APPOINTMENTS (current & former)

• Authored form license (EULA) for attorneys nationwide

• AIPLA Committee on Open Source

• IEEE Technical Committee on Security and Privacy

• International Association of Privacy Professionals

• Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association

• Intellectual Property specialty group of the ABA

• Sequoia Legal Roundtable Co-Lead

• Duke Law Club Executive Board

• TechGC Steering Committee

Douglas Weinstein, Esq.

Doug has been an intellectual property attorney for over 20 years, advising companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies on all aspects of intellectual property. There are very few aspects of intellectual property that he has not touched.

Doug has an engineering degree earning a double-major in electrical engineering and math from Vanderbilt University, and a law degree from the University of New Hampshire.  Unlike most patent attorneys, he has seven years of engineering industry experience during which he received his MBA from the University of Alabama Birmingham.

Leaving big firm life, Doug established this practice to focus on bringing individual attention to his clients at significant cost savings to them. As a former partner with Jones Day and Finnegan, Doug has negotiated cross-licensing deals with hundreds of millions of dollars of royalties at stake; been part of bet-the-company litigations involving complex patents, trade secrets, and copyrights; and guided Fortune 500 companies through strategic intellectual property planning. Doug has procured patents and destroyed opponents’ patents and has assisted companies in buying patents and performing due diligence on M&A deals.

Doug has lectured hundreds of times before business, engineering, and legal groups and has taught patent litigation and licensing in law schools. He regularly mentors young attorneys.

Most of all, Doug has a passion for recognizing the business aspect of intellectual property. Your IP should provide value to your business, and Doug’s mission is to make sure that it does 

KEY EXPERTISE

• Experience representing TSMC, Microsoft, IBM, HP, Sony, Hon Hai (Foxconn), SAP, Compaq, Sun Microsystems, and Toshiba.

• Former partner with Jones Day and Finnegan.

• Seven years of engineering and management experience at US Steel.

• Business experience assisting with day-to-day legal activities for a broad range of companies from small to large entities such as Foxconn, TSMC, and Scientific Atlanta, with a particular focus on business development and software licensing.

• Experience representing companies in Silicon Valley, commuting to the Bay Area assisting companies such as Cisco, HP, and Sun Microsystems.

• Transactional expertise in intellectual property, including patents and trade secrets, specifically: intellectual property portfolio management, M&A intellectual property due diligence, intellectual property licensing (both out and in); patent preparation and prosecution; opinions; design-around projects; patent mining; and patent analysis.

• Litigation expertise including litigating in Federal district courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission, as well as state courts of law and chancery.  Subject matter of litigation has included patents, trade secrets, copyright, trademarks, and contracts.

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