Joseph Yang is an IP transactions partner at PatentEsque Law Group, LLP.

Joe specializes in structuring & negotiating tech/IP-centric deals (technology transactions, strategic alliances, patent licensing/sales, standards body issues, IP aspects of M&A) and in using IP as strategic business assets. He has led hundreds of deals involving billions of dollars in and across the information technology, electronics, entertainment, consumer goods, healthcare, energy, chemical & manufacturing industries. Reflecting these diverse experiences, Joe is often retained to “bridge the gap” in cross-industry deals (e.g., joint ventures, IoT, SaaS & “big data” deals) between companies whose industries historically didn’t interact with each other.

Joe is also an expert witness for high stakes tech & patent licensing disputes.

Joe teaches the "Technology and Patent Licensing" course at Stanford Law School, and has taught the “Patent Law and Policy” course at U.C. Berkeley School of Law. Joe is a long-time chair of the “Advanced Licensing,” “Advanced Patent Licensing” and “Understanding the IP License” courses at the Practising Law Institute in NYC, SF and Chicago. He has written for journals & books, and been cited by courts & treatises, on licensing & patent law.

Joe previously served as VP & General Counsel of Cryptography Research, Inc. (CRI), negotiating deals under which 10+ billion devices/year are made by its licensees in the smart card/phone, semiconductor, pay TV, printer & other fields. He also developed, enforced & defended CRI’s patent portfolio, and played a key role in CRI’s successful sale in a series of M&A deals (with Macrovision & Rambus) valued at $400+ million.

Before that, Joe co-founded and later led the “IP Strategy & Transactions” practice based in the Silicon Valley office of the world’s largest law firm (Skadden, Arps). He has also practiced at other large multinational law firms, and served as an arbitrator.

Joe has been named one of the “World’s Leading IP Strategists,” “World’s Leading Patent Professionals” and “World’s Leading IP & Technology Licensing Lawyers” by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) publications. IAM named Joe as 1 of only 10 "highly recommended" IP transactional attorneys in California -- the only one from a boutique (non-AmLaw 100) firm:

“Joseph Yang is a major-league deal maker and licensing authority” as well as “a transactional mastermind” with arbitration and litigation skills that make him a formidable negotiator.” “He … is a creative problem solver who can clearly articulate legal risks and provide effective advice to guide business decision making.”

Joe is “one of the best expert witnesses you could hope to deal with. He considers all the issues before committing to an opinion, and his positions are always rock solid”.

He is also profiled in “Marquis Who’s Who in American Law”, “Marquis Who’s Who in America” and “Marquis Who’s Who in the World”, and named to the California SuperLawyers list.

Joe also serves on the advisory board of the Licensing Executives Society - Silicon Valley chapter, and is a board member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley.

Joe was originally a research engineer in the aerospace & energy fields. He holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School and a Ph.D. (engineering) from the California Institute of Technology, where he has been a board member of the Caltech Associates & Caltech Alumni Association.