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Open Source Software 2016 — from Compliance to Cooperation

 
Author(s): Mark F. Radcliffe, Heather J. Meeker
Practice Area: Intellectual Property
Published: Dec 2016
ISBN: 9781402428098
PLI Item #: 190828
CHB Spine #: G1303

Heather Meeker advises technology clients on intellectual property matters. Her practice focuses on counseling in the following areas:

  • Technology transactions, including licenses, channel sales agreements, development agreements, university technology transfer, and consumer contracting 
  • Open source software licensing, including IP strategy, compliance, transactions, and disputes 
  • Technology and IP issues in mergers and acquisitions
  • Copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, and other IP matters  

Heather has achieved national and international recognition for her leadership in the field of intellectual property law. Drawing on her technical knowledge and experience, she approaches matters with a practical and business focus. Heather handles technology transactions and intellectual property-related aspects of mergers and acquisitions for companies in all technology sectors and for non-technology companies doing technology deals, with an emphasis on IT and software.

Prior to joining O’Melveny, Heather practiced at an AmLaw 20 firm, where she served as chair of the firm’s IP/IT Licensing and Transactions Group, as well as the co-managing shareholder of its Silicon Valley office.

 

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley, J.D., 1994: Order of the Coif; Editor-in-Chief, Berkeley Technology Law Review (1993-1994)
  • Yale University, B.A., Economics, 1979: magna cum laude

 

Experience

  • Provided representation in open source disputes, including Oracle v. Google, Continuent v. Tekelec, and FSF v. Cisco.
  • Participated in drafting team for Mozilla Public License version 2.0.
  • Serves as advisor to the ALI project on the law of software contracting and the Restatement of Copyright Law.
  • Provided counsel to many open source software and technology efforts, including Mozilla Foundation, Cloudfoundry.org, OROPO Foundation, Open Compute Project, and Open Networking Foundation.
  • Authored "Open Source for Business," a handbook for engineers, business persons, and lawyers to understand the use of open source licensing in private enterprise.

 

Professional Activities

  • Former Council Member, American Bar Association Science and Technology Section (2006 - 2010) and Former Chair, Open Source Committee, Section of Science and Technology Law
  • American Law Institute (2006 - present)
  • Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights for the San Francisco Bay Area (2006 - present)


Primary Areas of Practice: IP Licensing, Open Source Software Licensing, Venture Capital, Corporate Structuring; Corporate Collaborations

Law School/Graduate School: Harvard Law School

Work History:

Mr. Radcliffe represents corporations in their intellectual property and finance matters. His clients include both startups and global multinationals.  He has been at the forefront of many of the major legal developments in the last three decades, including the development the first domain dispute resolution policy for Network Solutions, Inc. (which is still the basis for dispute resolution under ICANN),  the revision of the bankruptcy law to deal with the intersection between bankruptcy and intellectual property licenses, the open sourcing of the Solaris operating system for Sun Microsystems, Inc. and the development of the General Public License version 3.  He has served on the US Japan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council and was appointed by the Department of State to be the US Private Sector Co-Chair http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20130225-01.html. His experience covers a wide variety of industries from web to software (particularly open source) to cloud to semiconductors. His deep experience in both venture capital financing and intellectual property makes him particularly effective in assisting companies in developing and implementing innovation strategies.

In April 2009 (the first year of the award), he was recognized for his experience in assisting companies in intellectual property strategy by Intellectual Asset Management magazine as one of the World’s Leading 250 IP Strategists.  The National Law Journal in 1997 named him one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in the United States.  He is consistently cited by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, as being in the first rank in California for IT and IT Outsourcing.  He has been listed in the “The Best Lawyers in America,” and as one of Northern California’s Top 100 intellectual property attorneys in “Super Lawyers.”  And he has been named as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” in Who’s Who Legal publication.  In 1998, Harvard Law School designated him a “Distinguished Alumni”.  He has been quoted on intellectual property matters in Time Magazine, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Examiner, San Jose Mercury News and the Daily Variety.  Mr. Radcliffe has published articles in such legal magazines as the National Law Journal, Trademark World, Computer Lawyer, California Law Business and Copyright World. 

Professional Memberships: American Bar Association, International Bar Association