About
Mark Dickson is a seasoned expert dedicated to helping clients optimize internal and external intellectual property opportunities to achieve their business goals. Intellectual property is a dynamic area of the law, directly influencing investment and management of intangible assets – now estimated at more than 80% of the value of S&P 500 companies.
Mark strives to provide more than expertise in intellectual property. He seeks to translate that expertise into advice and counsel that accounts for his client’s specific industry, business, profit goals, resources, vision, and strategy.
Mark uses his business insight and technology expertise to translate the intricacies of complex intellectual property law, innovation process, and global commercial trends, into actionable counsel tailored to the strategy and success of client business. His services include the analysis of patent and technology information for strategic purposes, including portfolio development and evaluation, risk assessment, competitive analysis, R&D/patent strategy, targeting for sale, acquisition and licensing, and litigation resolution. His services blend sophisticated intellectual property expertise with perceptive business insight, helping clients identify opportunities and prioritize resources in a language that relates to their business realities.
Mark has over thirty years of legal experience including lead counsel in patent litigation, trial and settlement. He has a wide background in patent portfolio procurement, intellectual asset management, and licensing. He is a former partner of Winston & Strawn, Howrey Simon Arnold & White, and Arnold, White & Durkee law firms. Mark is a former law clerk to the Honorable Judge Pauline Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He is also a former Congressional Science Fellow from the American Chemical Society serving on Capitol Hill as staff for U.S. Congressman Ed Zschau, California’s 12th District, and the U.S. House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee.
Education & Bar Admissions
J.D., University of Houston Law Center
Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, Washington State University
B.S., Special Distinction, Chemistry/Math University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State University – Pueblo)
Bar Admissions: California, Texas, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office District of Columbia Bar (inactive status), Department of Veterans Affairs.
Admitted in all California federal district courts and selected other federal district courts, U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal (Federal Circuit, 9th Circuit, and D.C. Circuit), and U.S. Supreme Court.
Awards & Accomplishments
Past Chair, ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law, 2018-19; Appointed, ABA Standing Committee on Publication Oversight (SCOPO) (2015-2021)
Certified Patent Value Analyst (CPVA), 2011-Present, Business Development Academy (not a recognized specialty or certification of the CA or TX State Bar).
AV Rated, Martindale Hubbell
Super Lawyer, IP Litigation, Northern CA, 2006, from Thomson Reuters
The Legal 500, U.S. 2008 Ed., Intellectual Property
Past President, San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association, 1999-2000; Board of Directors 2017-23