Alan MacPherson
Encyclopedia
Alan H. MacPherson was an American
patent attorney
based in California that many considered to be the "dean of patent law" in the Bay Area. MacPherson was born in Calais, Maine
on August 10, 1934. He received a full scholarship to attend Stanford University
, where in 1956 he obtained his Bachelor of Science
degree in Mechanical Engineering
, supplementing his tuition by working in the gold and silver mines of Alaska and Idaho. Then, he obtained his Master of Science
degree, also in Mechanical Engineering, from MIT. He held technical positions at Space Technology Laboratories in Redondo Beach, California
, Dynamic Analysis and Control Laboratory at MIT and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, Connecticut
before attending Harvard Law School
. In 1964, MacPherson received his Juris Doctor
degree from Harvard Law School
.
in Murray Hill, New Jersey
. Then, he moved to California to become one of the first patent attorneys at Fairchild Semiconductor
, when it was still known as "Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation" and before it split off into National Semiconductor
and other semiconductor companies.
In 1980, MacPherson founded the IP Group of Skjerven Morrill MacPherson LLP and served as the firm's chairman. Skjerven went on to become one of the leading patent and IP boutique law firms in Silicon Valley, riding the wave of the dot-com boom and serving as one of major "go-to" firms for Silicon Valley companies such as NEC
, AMD, SanDisk
, Mosel Vitelic Corporation
and Xilinx
, all of whom were clients of MacPherson. In 2003, the firm dissolved.
In 2002, one year before Skjerven folded, the Skjerven partnership voted to replace MacPherson, citing differences over the direction of the firm. The breakup was complicated, as it involved a suit filed by MacPherson against his former partners.
One year before Skjerven folded, MacPherson left to start his own firm with offices in San Jose, California
and Irvine, California
, MacPherson Kwok Chen & Heid LLP. According to several commentators, MacPherson's status as a legendary rainmaker and his departure from Skjerven (bringing his clients and large book of business with him to his new firm) quickly led to the downfall of Skjerven. In early 2009, MacPherson Kwok Chen & Heid LLP merged with Texas-based law firm Haynes and Boone LLP
.
MacPherson co-founded Intellectual Property Acquisitions, Inc. with Dr. Nicola Orsini in late 2002 and served as its non-executive chairman. He also served as Chief IP Strategist at Scintera Networks, Inc., a high speed communications semiconductor company.
in an IP lawsuit against Intel in the early 1980s. In the suit, Intel alleged that NEC stole and infringed its programming in its microprocessors, or "microcode
". To rebut this accusation, MacPherson gave an independent engineer the task of programming an IC (Integrated Circuit
) to do the same thing as the NEC and Intel Chips, but cutting off all access to any previously written microcode - in other words, simulating clean room conditions. After the engineer completed the task, experts concluded that the similarities between the microcode was not because of copying but due to the intrinsic constraints of programming microcode.
's Mt. Kilimanjaro.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
patent attorney
Patent attorney
A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing an opposition...
based in California that many considered to be the "dean of patent law" in the Bay Area. MacPherson was born in Calais, Maine
Calais, Maine
Calais is a city in Washington County, Maine, United States. The city has three United States border crossings or also known as a Port of entry with the busiest being on the St. Croix River bordering St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada...
on August 10, 1934. He received a full scholarship to attend Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where in 1956 he obtained his Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
, supplementing his tuition by working in the gold and silver mines of Alaska and Idaho. Then, he obtained his Master of Science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degree, also in Mechanical Engineering, from MIT. He held technical positions at Space Technology Laboratories in Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach is one of the three Beach Cities located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 66,748 at the 2010 census, up from 63,261 at the 2000 census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the greater Los Angeles area.Redondo Beach was originally part of...
, Dynamic Analysis and Control Laboratory at MIT and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, Connecticut
East Hartford, Connecticut
East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,252 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
before attending Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. In 1964, MacPherson received his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
.
Career
MacPherson began his career as patent counsel at Bell LabsBell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
in Murray Hill, New Jersey
Murray Hill, New Jersey
Murray Hill is an unincorporated area within portions of both Berkeley Heights and New Providence, located in Union County in northern New Jersey, United States....
. Then, he moved to California to become one of the first patent attorneys at Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. is an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957, it was a pioneer in transistor and integrated circuit manufacturing...
, when it was still known as "Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation" and before it split off into National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer, that specialized in analog devices and subsystems,formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The products of National Semiconductor included power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers,...
and other semiconductor companies.
In 1980, MacPherson founded the IP Group of Skjerven Morrill MacPherson LLP and served as the firm's chairman. Skjerven went on to become one of the leading patent and IP boutique law firms in Silicon Valley, riding the wave of the dot-com boom and serving as one of major "go-to" firms for Silicon Valley companies such as NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
, AMD, SanDisk
SanDisk
SanDisk Corporation is an American multinational corporation that designs, develops and manufactures data storage solutions in a range of form factors using the flash memory, controller and firmware technologies. It was founded in 1988 by Dr. Eli Harari and Sanjay Mehrotra, non-volatile memory...
, Mosel Vitelic Corporation
Mosel Vitelic Corporation
Mosel Vitelic was a company that produced integrated circuits for memory. It started in 1985 and made DRAM and Flash memory. They used a .12u/.14u process and manufacture 128Mb/256Mb SDR, DDRI RAM and 256Mb/512Mb DDRII RAM....
and Xilinx
Xilinx
Xilinx, Inc. is a supplier of programmable logic devices. It is known for inventing the field programmable gate array and as the first semiconductor company with a fabless manufacturing model....
, all of whom were clients of MacPherson. In 2003, the firm dissolved.
In 2002, one year before Skjerven folded, the Skjerven partnership voted to replace MacPherson, citing differences over the direction of the firm. The breakup was complicated, as it involved a suit filed by MacPherson against his former partners.
One year before Skjerven folded, MacPherson left to start his own firm with offices in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
and Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
, MacPherson Kwok Chen & Heid LLP. According to several commentators, MacPherson's status as a legendary rainmaker and his departure from Skjerven (bringing his clients and large book of business with him to his new firm) quickly led to the downfall of Skjerven. In early 2009, MacPherson Kwok Chen & Heid LLP merged with Texas-based law firm Haynes and Boone LLP
Haynes and Boone
Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, California, Washington, D.C., Mexico City and Moscow. Haynes and Boone is ranked the 76th largest law firm in the nation by the National Law Journal...
.
MacPherson co-founded Intellectual Property Acquisitions, Inc. with Dr. Nicola Orsini in late 2002 and served as its non-executive chairman. He also served as Chief IP Strategist at Scintera Networks, Inc., a high speed communications semiconductor company.
Clean room defense
MacPherson is also credited as having pioneered the "clean room" defense when he represented NECNEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
in an IP lawsuit against Intel in the early 1980s. In the suit, Intel alleged that NEC stole and infringed its programming in its microprocessors, or "microcode
Microcode
Microcode is a layer of hardware-level instructions and/or data structures involved in the implementation of higher level machine code instructions in many computers and other processors; it resides in special high-speed memory and translates machine instructions into sequences of detailed...
". To rebut this accusation, MacPherson gave an independent engineer the task of programming an IC (Integrated Circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
) to do the same thing as the NEC and Intel Chips, but cutting off all access to any previously written microcode - in other words, simulating clean room conditions. After the engineer completed the task, experts concluded that the similarities between the microcode was not because of copying but due to the intrinsic constraints of programming microcode.
Legacy
MacPherson died on December 8, 2008. He has taught and mentored several generations of IP and patent attorneys practicing in California today. His passion for the law and for life was legendary, as can be evidenced by the fact that even in his late 60's he set mythical records of billing more than 3,000 hours a year and also climbed TanzaniaTanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
's Mt. Kilimanjaro.