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Andrew B. Schwaab has more than 25 years private practice experience, focusing on strategic IP matters, including counseling, global patent prosecution, patent litigation, licensing, monetization and due diligence, as well as validity, infringement and freedom-to-operate issues. Mr. Schwaab handles matters related to a wide range of electrical, computer, software and emerging technologies, regularly advising early-stage companies from start-up through to acquisition, initial public offering, enforcement and defense of their intellectual property. In February 2021, Mr. Schwaab was delighted to have a long-time client awarded the 44th Annual Silicon Valley Inventor of the Year, joining several of his clients who have previously won this award.

In the more than 20 years that Mr. Schwaab has practiced in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, he has frequently travelled internationally, representing both domestic and non-US companies. He lectures regularly on U.S. and comparative international patent issues, including presentations at four of the Chinese Patent Office locations, the Korean Patent Attorneys Association and the Korean Electronics Organization, as well as with numerous other organizations, conferences and IP law firms throughout the world. While earning his BS in electrical engineering and after graduation, Mr. Schwaab worked with an IP law firm in Washington D.C., becoming registered to practice before the USPTO in 1994.

Mr. Schwaab is a recent past president of the Silicon Valley IP Law Association and a past president of the San Francisco IP Law Association. He was recently elected to serve a two-year term as the chair of the China National Intellectual Property Administration/U.S. Bar Liaison Council, which informs and serves a variety of U.S. patent and trademark stakeholders regarding Chinese IP issues.

Concentrations

  • Computer systems and memory
  • Software (from apps to global enterprise platforms)
  • Semiconductor fabrication equipment, processes and devices
  • Cryptography, digital rights management and blockchain
  • Internet and other network enabled/related applications
  • Renewable energies, energy collection and conversion
  • Optical networks and components
  • Flat panel displays
  • Global navigation and positioning systems
  • Semiconductor nanofabrication and other nanotechnologies

Capabilities

Recognition & Leadership

  • Listed, Lawdragon, "500 Leading Litigators in America,” 2022-2025
  • Listed, IAM Strategy 300 Global Leaders – The World’s Leading IP Strategists, 2022-2025
  • Listed, IAM Strategy 300 – The World’s Leading IP Strategists, 2021-2024
  • Listed, IAM magazine, "IAM Patent 1000," Prosecution, 2020-2024
  • Team Member, a U.S. News - Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms," "Law Firm of the Year" in Information Technology Law, 2024
  • President, Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association
  • Vice-Chair, CNIPA (Chinese Patent & Trademark Office)/U.S. Bar Liaison Council
  • Past-President, San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association 
  • Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Credentials

Education
  • J.D., University of San Diego School of Law, 1998
    • Founding Member, Science & Technology Law Society
  • B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Virginia, 1992
Admissions
  • California
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Related Capabilities

Intellectual Property & Technology Patents and Innovation Strategies Venture Capital & Emerging Technology