Amar L. Thakur

Amar Thakur is co-chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group.

Mr. Thakur's practice is devoted to intellectual property litigation and technology transactions matters.  Mr. Thakur's litigation experience includes representation of large technology companies in telecommunications, medical devices, software, semiconductors and life sciences industries in patent, trademark and commercial disputes. He has appeared before the federal courts throughout California, Arizona, New York and Texas, and the International Trade Commission.  Mr. Thakur's substantial experience in technology transactional and licensing matters includes acquisition and protection of intellectual property, technology transfer agreements, patent and software licensing transactions, and research and development transactions.

Mr. Thakur's representative clients include Amgen, BAE Systems, Beckman Coulter, Broadcom, Conexant Systems, Entropic Communications, Gen-Probe, International Rectifier, JAMDAT Mobile, Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, Medtronic, Nextec Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Overland Storage, Quantum Corporation, Samsung, Sony Online Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, State Compensation Insurance Fund, and Yahoo.

Education

• J.D., Arizona State University, 1995, cum laude
• B.S.E.E., University of Washington, 1992

Admissions

• Arizona
• California
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

CURRENTLY ACTIVE CASES

Quantum Corporation v. Riverbed Technology, Inc. - (Northern District of California and District Ct. of Delaware) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiff in multiple lawsuit, patent infringement matters regarding data storage products utilizing de-duplication technology.

Vero Systems, Inc. v. Telarix, Inc. - (Eastern District of Virginia) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiff in a patent infringement matter regarding software for international routing of long distance telephone calls.

Nextec Applications, Inc. v. Brookwood Companies, Inc. - (Southern District of New York) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiff in a patent infringement matter regarding encapsulation technology.

Sandisk IL, f/k/a mSystems, Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - (American Arbitration Association (New York)) - Intellectual property counsel for Samsung in an arbitration for breach of a patent license and supply agreement.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, Panasonic Corporation of North America, et. al. adv. Screentone Systems Corporation, et al. - (Eastern District of Texas and Western District of Washington) - Lead trial counsel for Peerless Systems in lawsuit in which Panasonic has tendered its defense of patent infringement case to Peerless.

Bridgepoint Education, Inc. v. Professional Career Development Institute, LLC - (Southern District of California) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiff in a trademark infringement action regarding ASHFORD UNIVERSITY® mark.

State Compensation Insurance Fund v. Real Consulting and Software Development, LLC, et al. - (Superior Court for the County of San Francisco) - Co-lead trial counsel for plaintiff in a breach of contract, good faith and fair dealing and fraudulent inducement matter relating to software development and implementation.

TVN Entertainment Corporation v. Stingray Digital Group, Inc., et. al. - (Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles) - Lead trial counsel for defendant Stingray in a breach of license agreement matter.

InfoVista S.A. and InfoVista Corporation v. EMC Corporation - (Northern District of California) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in a trademark infringement action regarding Invista® software.

CASES RESOLVED IN 2007-2008

InfoVista S.A. and InfoVista Corporation v. Microsoft Corporation - (Northern District of California) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in a trademark infringement action regarding Windows® Vista software (settled favorably).

InfoVista S.A. and InfoVista Corporation v. Infovista Technology, Inc. - (Northern District of California) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in a trademark infringement action (settled favorably).

InfoVista S.A. and InfoVista Corporation v. VistanetIT, Inc. - (Northern District of California) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in a trademark infringement action (settled favorably).

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, Inc. and Kratos Government Solutions, Inc. v. Celeris Systems, Inc., et al. - (Superior Court for the County of Orange) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in a trade secret, duty of loyalty, and unfair competition matter regarding government contracts related to GPS and telecommunications software (settled).

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, Inc. and Kratos Government Solutions, Inc. v. Tactical Survey Group, Inc. - (Superior Court for the County of San Diego) - Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in a breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition matter related to security software (settled).

Honors

• Top Intellectual Property Attorney, San Diego Daily Transcript, 2006

Memberships

• Member, San Diego Intellectual Property Association
• Board of Directors, Arthritis Foundation

Articles

• Sheppard Makes a Run at Tech: Amar Thakur Races to Put IP Practice on San Diego's Map, The Recorder, May 30, 2007
• Just One Good Idea, April 5, 2007
• Meet Our New Leaders in Intellectual Property, April 4, 2007
• Sheppard Mullin's 'High-Energy' Attorney Aims to Elevate Firm's IP Status, April 2, 2007
• Amar Thakur Utilized His Legal Skills and Experience to Help Build the Intellectual Property Practice at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, March 22, 2007

Speeches

• Mr. Thakur frequently speaks publicly about legal issues related to intellectual property and technology transactions. He participates on panels on a regular basis for American Corporate Counsel Association events and is a guest lecturer at the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Irvine.