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Adeel S. Akhtar is a partner in our San Francisco office. He has extensive experience in patent protection, and other forms of intellectual property protection, for high technology industries.
Adeel's practice includes strategic patent procurement, general counseling on infringement and licensing issues, pre-litigation studies, intellectual property due diligence studies and related negotiations for mergers and acquisitions. He also frequently conducts in-house seminars to assist clients in identifying and prioritizing patentable inventions.
Adeel focuses on complex technologies, including software, data processing, and electronic devices such as sensors, imagers, displays, MEMS and integrated circuits. He has particular expertise in the semiconductor field, including:
- Integrated circuit fabrication flows
- Semiconductor device physics
- Circuit layout
- Scaling techniques
- Chip packaging
- Semiconductor processing equipment (ancillary systems, such as sensory systems, wafer handling systems, and metrology)
- Basic processes developed for the equipment, such as deposition processes (including spin-on deposition, CVD, PVD and ALD), etching, annealing, oxidation, and photolithography
Outside of these specialty areas, Adeel also represents a number of clients in a broad range of other technologies, such as industrial chemicals, agricultural machinery, temperature control systems, drug delivery platforms, water purification, seismic reinforcement, sporting equipment, and web services.
Adeel joined the firm in 1994 and became a partner in 1999.
Adeel has been honored multiple times for his legal accomplishments:
- Recognized for outstanding work in patent law in the 2024 edition of the Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) "Patent 1000 Guide" for Prosecution and Transactions (2024)
- Named one of the "World's Leading Patent Professionals" in the Patent 1000 guide for transactions and prosecution by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine (2016-2023). The 2023 guide noted Akhtar "has a flair for high-level strategic matters and is a discerning choice for those seeking robust patent protection in the semiconductor field."
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Named a “Leading Litigator – IP Litigation, esp. Patent” in the 2023-2024 edition of Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” guide
- Recognized as one of 30 "Favorite IP Lawyers" by in-house counsel of leading companies in the 2016 BTI "Client Service All-Stars" report for delivering outstanding client service.
- Named to Lawyers of Color's 2014 and 2015 "Power List"
Speeches & Seminars
"Willful Infringement after Halo", presented at the 2016 IIPLA Annual Meeting, October 3, 2016, Santa Clara, CA.
"Strategies and Procedures for Appealing Patent Rejections," co-presented with Rabi Narula and Ron Schoenbaum at Knobbe Martens, March 17, 2014, Irvine, CA.
Moderator, "Representing Startups and Venture Capital Funds” at the North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) 2013 Annual Convention, June 21, 2013, San Francisco, CA.
“Getting Million Dollar Fundings and Billion Dollar Exits Using IP,” co-presented with Neel Chatterjee, Richard Ogawa, Craig Opperman, Sasha Rao, and Sunil Kulkarni, The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE) Silicon Valley conference center, joint SABA/TiE panel event, January 13, 2013, Santa Clara, CA.
“False Patent Marking: What’s the Harm?,” presented to the Palo Alto Bar Association (PAABA), September 30, 2010, Palo Alto, California.
“Recently Introduced USPTO Pilot Programs and Initiatives that You Can Utilize to Improve the Quality of Your Portfolio,” co-presented with William Bunker at the IP Impact Seminar, July 27, 2010, Menlo Park, California.
“Intellectual Property Primer,” presented to ProVisors, May 21, 2010, San Francisco, California.
“Supreme Court’s Renewed Interest in IP,”panelist with Jeremiah Chan and William Zimmerman at the IP Impact Seminar, October 11, 2007, San Francisco, California.
“Entrepreneurship 101,” panelist with Sid Mahasseb, John Lown, Rajiv Dulepet David Saad and Nilesh Shaw at the TiECon Southwest 2007 – Entrepreneurship: Now, New, Next, September 15, 2007, Anaheim, California.
“Managing Information and Risks: Product Launch, Third-Party Patents, and Opinions of Counsel,” co-presented with Dale C. Hunt at the Bloomberg Intellectual Property Symposium 2006, November 10, 2006, Santa Clara, California.
“IP News Your Need to Know,” panelist with Jeanine J. Hayes and John B. Sganga at the IP Impact Seminar, October 20, 2006, San Francisco, California.
“Navigating Common Stumbling Blocks at the PTO,” co-presented with Stephen Kunin at the Software Strategy Summit - American Conference Institute, February 20, 2006, Palo Alto, California.
“How To Avoid Infringing the Rights of Others,” presented at the Innovative IP Strategies Seminar, September 14, 2005, Vancouver, Canada.
“The Art and Science of Business Development,” panelist with Pankaj Sinha, Sonjui Kumar, and Narendra (Nick) Setty at the 2nd Annual NASABA (National Southeast Asian Bar Association) National Conference, June 17-18, 2005, Washington, D.C.
“The Art and Science of Rainmaking,” panelist with Anita Varma, Tina Sharma, and Narendra (Nick) Setty at the 1st Annual NASABA (National Southeast Asian Bar Association) National Conference, June 18-20, 2004, Los Angeles, California.
“Right to Practice: Dealing With Risks Of Infringement,” presented at the Key Strategies Conference – Medical Devices, May 17, 2004, San Jose, California.