Articles and Podcasts

What's The Best Court For Your Patent Infringement Suit? The Answer May Have Changed

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas may not be as popular a court to file patent cases now, Robert Sloss explains, thanks to a new action by its Chief Judge that will mean many patent suits will not be directed to Judge Alan Albright of the Waco Division, considered by some a plaintiff-friendly judge.

Recently Proposed SEC Amendments May Affect Proposals on Greenhouse Gas Reporting

The SEC has proposed revising three bases for the exclusion of shareholder proposals from a publicly traded company’s proxy statement. These changes may have a significant impact on shareholder proposals related to environmental matters, given efforts by the SEC to strengthen greenhouse gas emissions reporting requirements, note John Nelson, Matthew Abbot and Christopher Tinen.

Vietnam and Patent Protection: Observations, Developments and Strategies

As Vietnam rises as a consumer market, research hub and manufacturing center, patent rights are becoming increasingly important. Procopio's Miku Mehta offers practical tips for pursuing patent protection in Vietnam with Tracey Hendy, Karen Bentley and Desmond Tan of FPA Patent Attorneys in our latest Procopio Perspectives podcast. (Transcript provided.)

News

Commercial Real Estate Attorney Tara Castro Narayanan Joins Procopio as Partner

Experienced residential, commercial, and mixed-use common interest real estate development attorney Tara Castro Narayanan has joined Procopio as a Partner, based in the firm’s Silicon Valley office. She has represented developers, builders, owners, and title insurance companies in both state and federal jurisdictions on a wide variety of projects, including large and small residential planned developments and condominiums, master-planned communities, high‐rise mixed-use condominiums, industrial and commercial parks, senior housing, and affordable housing.

Construction Team Bolstered by Partner Rosemary Nunn, Senior Associate Nicholas Fortino

Procopio’s award-winning Construction Law team has added two more experienced industry attorneys. Joining as a Partner is Rosemary Nunn, who represents owners, developers, and contractors on both public and private projects, ranging from high-end residential, to school facilities and campuses, to billion-dollar infrastructure. Also joining is Nicholas Fortino as a Senior Associate. Both are based in Procopio’s Orange County, California, office. Procopio’s Construction Law practice has been recognized by Chambers and Partners and U.S. News-Best Law Firms, and for the last two years has been named one of the top 25 U.S. construction practices by Construction Executive magazine.

Awards & Accolades

Procopio Ranked Highly for Diversity by Law360 for Sixth Consecutive Year

Procopio has once again received recognition in Law360’s annual Diversity Snapshot, ranking #7 among all U.S. law firms with 101-250 attorneys for diversity. The annual survey of hundreds of firms focuses on racial and ethnic minority makeup among equity partners, non-equity partners, associates, and other attorneys. This is the sixth straight year Procopio has been recognized by Law360 for its attorney diversity.

Three Procopio Attorneys Recognized by the San Diego Business Journal

Kudos to Procopio Labor & Employment Partner Marie Burke Kenny, L&E Associate Ashley Fasano, and Corporate Law Senior Counsel Jennifer Trowbridge on their recent recognitions by the San Diego Business Journal!

L&E Partner Marie Burke Kenny Named a Top Woman of Influence

Marie was named 2022 San Diego Top Woman of Influence 50 over 50. An elected member of the firm’s Management Committee since 2017 and previously the leader of its Labor and Employment team, Marie was recognized for her leadership within the firm and in the broader San Diego community. She has played a critical role as Procopio has adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic, from forced lockdowns in 2020 to new return-to-work policies in 2022, including the development of hybrid models. Marie is also a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion both in the firm and in the broader legal community.

Ashley Fasano and Jennifer Trowbridge Named Top Business Leaders Finalists

Ashley and Jennifer were finalists in the 2022 40 Next Top Business Leaders Under Forty competition. Ashley handles wage and hour lawsuits brought under the California Labor Code and Wage Orders, including those with claims for meal and rest break violations, alleged unpaid overtime and minimum wages, reporting time pay, and inaccurate wage statements. Jennifer focuses on a wide array of corporate law, including securities law, corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, and Exchange Act reporting and compliance.

Events

California Construction Contract Workshop | Webinar 8:30 am - 4:00 pm PT

Partner Mary Salamone conducts a presentation titled "Examining Legal Issues and Contract Disputes" as part of an all-day webinar on construction contracts in California. Her topics include changed conditions; project documentation; delays and acceleration; handling payment claims and final payments; resolving disputes through mediation, arbitration, and litigation; and understanding contractual and statutory warranties.

Legal Fallout from the Ukraine War | Webinar 12:00 - 1:00 pm PT

As the Ukraine war rages and U.S.-China tensions continue, the U.S. and other countries have imposed an unprecedented level of sanctions and export controls on dealing with Russia, China, and others. These are having a huge impact on both direct activities with those countries as well as indirect activities. Partner Miku Mehta shares the latest in a webinar hosted by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) San Diego.

Procopio’s Annual Labor & Employment Seminar | Hilton Torrey Pines 12:00 – 6:00 pm PT

Procopio’s Labor & Employment Law team discusses significant changes and challenges from 2022, with a focus on assisting attendees to stay in compliance with state and federal law and avoid unwanted litigation, including wrongful termination and wage and hour lawsuits.

Client News

SoCal Professional Design Consultant Acquired by Nationwide Engineering Services Firm

Big news for client and professional design consulting firm Project Design Consultants (PDC) on its acquisition by Bowman Consulting Group. Leading the PDC team was Dennis Doucette, with Jason Femrite, Gabriela Turner, Andrew Parsons, David Boatwright, John Miles and John C. Lee. Bowman will benefit from PDC's decades of providing SoCal clients professional design services that include civil engineering, surveying, planning, and landscape architecture.

USPTO Introduces Climate Change Mitigation Program

Congratulations to client and leading technology and content solutions provider LearningMate on its acquisition of JobReady, an online platform delivering high-quality, affordable, relevant career pathways and credentials for the 21st century to a million job seekers and career shifters. Procopio attorneys Jeffrey Morton and Shai Larkin managed the transaction for LearningMate.

Longtime Startup Incubator Renews Robust Schedule of Industry-Focused Information and Networking Meetings

Great news! The EvoNexus SIGs are back. These SIGs bring together industry like-minded entrepreneurs, investors, legal experts and others in meaningful in-person community-building events. Procopio's Noel Gillespie co-founded and co-leads its MedTech group along with others including client and Indie Health CEO Clint McClellan; that SIG meets Aug. 24. Procopio is a longtime EvoNexus sponsor, with Procopio's Bill Eigner a longtime board member.

Longtime WD-40 Company Leader Awarded CEO of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award

It’s a well-deserved recognition for client and WD-40 Company Chairman and CEO Garry Ridge; he’s been honored by the San Diego Business Journal with a CEO of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. Under his leadership the WD-40 brand has grown iconc. For more than twenty years Procopio IP attorney Kathleen Brown has represented WD-40. Currently she and IP Partner Lisel Ferguson manage the registration and protection of the company’s brand through trademarks and other means alongside Neil Salyards, Tiffany Salayer, and Lisa Teixeira Águeda.

Telehealth Entrepreneur Named a 2022 CEO of the Year

Congrats to longtime client and founder and CEO of WithHealth, Inc. Cindy Salas on her recognition as a San Diego Business Journal CEO of the Year. WithHealth improves employee health and employer outcomes as a digital precision care telehealth company. It makes genetics-based healthcare affordable, proactive, accessible and preventative by utilizing genomics, digital twin technology, augmented intelligence, and care coordination to provide a 360-degree individualized health profile. Procopio Corporate Law Partner William Eigner has represented Salas and WithHealth since its 2017 launch.

Social Media

A big congrats to Public Agency Partner Adriana Ochoa on her new role as General Counsel for Metro Wastewater JPA! The JPA addresses wastewater issues for the public benefit, with members including the cities of Chula Vista, Coronado, Del Mar, El Cajon, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, National City and Poway; the Lemon Grove Sanitation District; the Padre Dam Municipal and Otay Water Districts; and the County of San Diego.

Meet the latest member of our growing patent prosecution team, Nathan Black, who brings professional experience as an electrical engineer when drafting patent applications and managing the process through to potential claims issuance.

Procopio IP attorney and longtime diversity champion Brooke Oliver has been elected to Board of Directors of Acción Latina in San Francisco, publisher of the local newspaper El Tecolote, a respected bilingual newspaper about the news impacting the Latino community in the Bay Area. Long affiliated with San Francisco State University, the publication has served as a training ground for generations of BIPOC media makers, and hosts many community cultural programs.

What a night! Procopio Partner Charles Lin was honored July 28 as the outgoing president of the Orange County Asian American Bar Association in Newport Beach, at which he gave an inspiring speech. We were a proud Platinum sponsor, and attendees included Procopio attorneys Raymond Chan, Miku Mehta, Victor Sai, Jack Shaw, Mindy Morton, Andrew Mar, Rosie Kim, Kendrick Lam, Alaina Persinger and legal intern Phyillis Macharia.

Our DEI Committee leader Mindy Morton spoke with Emma Cueto of Law360 about Procopio's focus on diversity, equity and inclusion as a mid-size law firm ranked highly in the publication's annual Diversity Snapshot. Said Mindy of Procopio's Diversity Lab ranking as a Mansfield Plus firm: The process "reaches into so many areas and things we might not have thought about. For example, one of the new rules this year was looking at how many partners you're recommending for inclusion in chambers. It turned out we were already recommending more than the diversity level that they wanted, but we weren't consciously thinking about that."

IP Partner Jeff Morton applauded a new U.S. Senate bill intended to improve patent quality with a focus on documenting examiner interviews with applicants, telling Rani Mehta of Managing IP that he'd welcome "having more certainty on how interviews go." 

Over 400 San Diego life sciences industry professionals were in attendance July 28 at Biocom California’s Annual Open House & Supplier Showcase. Procopio attorneys Noel Gillespie, Bob Ramos, Jeff Morton and Paul Johnson relished connecting with so many passionate founders, scientists, inventors, executives and doers.

It was an honor to co-sponsor the July 13 open house hosted by California Life Sciences! Such a great crowd of interesting and innovative individuals. Procopio was represented by Paul Johnson, Bob Ramos and Amy Wimer, who enjoyed compelling discussions on the positive trends developing in the pharma, life sciences and medtech space in San Diego and throughout the state.

Our International Tax team enjoyed spending time outside of class at UC San Diego Aug. 3 with students in our 25-hour U.S. tax law program held in conjunction with the UCSD Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies. Conducted in Spanish, the online and in-person program features students from Mexico, Columbia and Panama, with our attorneys as instructors. Attendees from Procopio included Enrique Hernandez-Pulido, Pedro E. Corona de la Fuente, Anuar Estefan and Francisco Sanchez Losada, along with Center for U.S. Mexican Studies Director Rafael Fernandez de Castro.

Let's Work Together.