Shearman & Sterling has expanded its intellectual property transactions capabilities with the arrival of IP lawyer Richard Hsu, who will join the firm as a partner in Palo Alto.

Mr. Hsu most recently was a partner and member of the Corporate practice in King & Spalding’s Silicon Valley office, and prior to that he was Co-Managing Partner and Chair of the Technology Transactions practice group at Townsend LLP. Earlier in his career, he was a senior attorney at Venture Law Group, where he represented more than 100 venture-backed startup technology companies and venture funds. Mr. Hsu has almost 20 years’ experience advising companies on corporate, licensing, and related business and intellectual property issues, with particular emphasis on acquisitions, asset purchases, development, and other partnering agreements for the life science, semiconductor, medical device, electronics and software industries. He has advised a wide variety of clients in these and other industries on developing and implementing strategies to acquire, protect, enforce, and commercialize various forms of intellectual property.

“We are very pleased that Richard has joined Shearman & Sterling and will bring his years of experience to advising our clients,” said Shearman & Sterling senior partner Rohan S. Weerasinghe. “Intellectual property matters are raised and negotiated in nearly all transactions, and Richard’s arrival gives us even greater capabilities in this increasingly important area.”

Added Shearman & Sterling M&A partner Michael Kennedy, managing partner of the firm’s Bay Area offices, “Richard enjoys a great reputation within the IP and Silicon Valley communities. We are delighted to continue to strengthen the connection and the synergies between IP and our highly regarded mergers and acquisitions group here in the Bay Area and around the world.”

Mr. Hsu is a frequent lecturer and writer on intellectual property issues. He serves as a faculty member of the Practicing Law Institute and Stanford Director’s College and was formerly on the Executive Committee of the California State Bar IP Section. He has been published and quoted in numerous newspapers, business periodicals and legal journals.

“Shearman & Sterling’s local and worldwide reputation and prestige are well known, and I am thrilled to be joining the firm, ” Mr. Hsu said. “I look forward to being part of and helping grow the Bay Area practice and working within the firm’s marquee global platform.”

Shearman & Sterling’s Intellectual Property Transactions Group counsels clients on intellectual property (IP) issues arising in all types of corporate and financial transactions, including acquisitions and divestitures of IP and technology assets, joint ventures and joint development arrangements, licensing and technology transactions, research and development agreements, securitization of intellectual property in debt transactions, technology services agreements, IP portfolio development counseling, IP due diligence and Internet and new media issues. The firm IP Transactions lawyers provide critical support on nearly every transaction in which the firm is involved—including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, bankruptcies and financings—handling critical IP due diligence and the development of intellectual property portfolio strategies. The group also works closely with corporate, antitrust and tax lawyers in order to deliver intellectual property law advice from an integrated, multidisciplinary point of view. In addition, much of the group’s work involves representing multinational companies in cross-border transactions and financial offerings in multiple jurisdictions. With members in New York, California and Europe, Shearman & Sterling’s IP Transactions Group is able to meet the demands of multinational clients and to provide sophisticated and up-to-the-minute advice in relation to IP law and its development on a global basis.

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