“I love working with the brightest legal talent to help clients with their toughest IP litigation matters.
Rich is the Global Co-Chair of Morrison Foerster’s Litigation Department. He previously co-led the firm’s IP Litigation Group and the cross–disciplinary Intellectual Property Group for over a decade. He brings his knowledge as a registered patent lawyer and a Federal Circuit clerk to lead complex technology matters for clients in state and federal trial and appellate courts. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in high–stakes patent litigation, competitor‑on–competitor cases, non–practicing entity assertions, and trade secret misappropriation disputes—obtaining consent judgments in multiple cases. Rich also represents clients in adversarial proceedings before the U.S. PTO and counsels clients on strategic offensive and defensive patent licensing and acquisition issues. His matters have spanned a broad range of technologies, including:
- Internet search
- Cryptography
- Programmable logic devices
- Graphical user interfaces
- Smartphones
- Water filtration consumer appliances
Rich earned dual bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and economics from Stanford University and his law degree from Columbia Law School. In law school, he externed for the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, then with the Southern District of New York. He was also a James Kent Scholar, a moot court editor and judge, and a recipient of the Carroll G. Harper Prize for excellence in intellectual property. After law school, Rich clerked for the Honorable Paul Michel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
In 2014, Rich was appointed by then San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee to serve as a Neutral Commissioner on the San Francisco Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Board. He served two terms as President and remains on the board of directors of the Asian Law Alliance, a non-profit organization that provides pro bono legal assistance to the Asian/Pacific Islander community in the Silicon Valley. Rich is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Rich previously tried multiple criminal cases—all to favorable verdicts—with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Experience
Member of team that successfully tried a high–profile smartphone case leading to a jury verdict of over $1 billion.
(Eastern District of Texas) Led Whirlpool team that obtained $7.6 million jury verdict and willfulness finding against TST Water in a patent case involving refrigerator water filters.
(Northern District of California) Defended AirWatch against assertions of four patents by a competitor. The case settled after expert discovery.
(District of Delaware). After every other defendant settled or was dismissed, convinced plaintiff to walk away and dismiss case against client VMware with prejudice.
(Northern District of Illinois) Represented VMware in a patent infringement suit brought by a non–practicing entity alleging infringement by VMware’s Zimbra webmail product.
(Northern District of California). Represented Yahoo in a patent infringement suit involving Internet display advertising and media playback. Won summary judgment of non–infringement on Augme’s two asserted patents, and Augme stipulated to infringement of one of Yahoo’s patents. The case was affirmed on appeal.
(District of Delaware). Represented Discovery Communications in a patent infringement suit against Amazon.com alleging infringement by Amazon’s Kindle of Discovery’s patents for e–book reader technology. The case settled after a favorable claim construction ruling.
(Northern District of California) Obtained consent judgments of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation against infringers in a matter involving balloon kyphoplasty.
(Northern District of California) Represented plaintiff in civil rights lawsuit. Court entered substantial monetary judgment in plaintiff’s favor prior to trial.