Technology Transactions
Our Practice
Snell & Wilmer’s technology transactions attorneys help our clients understand, navigate, and overcome unique challenges to develop, acquire, commercialize, license, and sell innovative technologies. We focus on supporting our clients’ business objectives, by structuring and negotiating technology transactions for companies at every stage of the corporate lifecycle from startups to public corporations.
Our team of attorneys are highly sought legal advisors with vast experience in day-to-day business dealings and complex technology commercialization. We work to provide customized, advanced solutions that match the needs of our innovative clients.
Areas of Experience
- Technology development, supply, and commercialization
- Technology agreements
- Intellectual property strategy
- Technology due diligence
- Strategic partnerships, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital financings
- Antitrust and competition issues
- Data use and privacy
Our Experience
Technology Development, Supply, and Commercialization
Our technology transactions attorneys have comprehensive understanding of the legal needs of technology companies, including its regulatory framework, risks and opportunities, rapidly changing technologies, and competitive landscape. We frequently assist both creators and buyers of a wide range of technology in connection with technology development, supply, and commercialization considerations. We are also equipped to provide regulatory guidance in this area, including advice relating to out of spec situations and plant inspections, as well as other legal and regulatory concerns relating to technology supply and distribution.
Technology Agreements
Our team is well-trained and experienced to respond to client needs associated with technology agreements. We have significant experience assisting companies with commercial contracts and licensing negotiations, including master services agreements, supply agreements, option agreements, distribution agreements, consulting agreements, joint venture agreements, and equipment purchase and leasing agreements. Our team is equipped to assist with a variety of other contracts including, but not limited to, those related to entity formation, employment, intellectual property, and real estate.
Intellectual Property Strategy
We support clients in procuring, protecting, commercializing, and enforcing intellectual property rights worldwide using our technical training and experience in a wide variety of technologies. Many of our lawyers have advanced degrees in technology disciplines including computer science, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering and have substantial experience working in technology companies and in industry. This real-world experience fosters appreciation and familiarity in establishing close working relationships with our client's management and engineering teams at all stages of research, development, licensing, and marketing of these technologies.
In support of patent applications through the U.S. and international patent offices, we often assist clients with the creation of experimental and analytical approaches that best support the intended scope of the patent. Our highly experienced attorneys can provide realistic and achievable experimental and prototype solutions, bridging established law and current legal trends with leading technology developments. In this way, our group particularly excels at developing patent strategy to protect not only existing products, but also natural areas of product expansion.
We also assist clients in developing an entire portfolio of patents designed to respond to offensive and defensive strategic needs. In this highly regulated environment in which life science and medical technology must operate, our strategic counseling regularly considers the intersect between regulation and patent law, such as federal Orange Book listings, Hatch-Waxman / ANDA litigation potential, strategizing on patentable aspects related to research and development, and maximizing patent term extensions. The ability to plan for and manage these various strategic considerations can be critical to a successful patent strategy and our attorneys are well-positioned and experienced to assist clients and laying the proper groundwork.
We offer a range of patent opinion and analytical services. Our white space analyses including start-of-the-art and landscape opinions are utilized by clients who are seeking to explore new commercial opportunities but are unsure of potential infringement risks or the likelihood of securing patent protection. We also render Patentability, Freedom-To-Operate and Non-Infringement opinions on a regular basis to support our clients’ needs.
Technology Due Diligence
We frequently provide due diligence investigations to clients considering a major technology transaction or collaboration, such as a major asset purchase, license and development, merger or acquisition, or securities offering. Our team is well-trained and experienced to respond to client needs associated with these investigations, as they often include both defensive and offensive patent assessments, as well as contractual review spanning a range from basic confidentiality agreements and employment or consulting agreements, to complex collaboration agreements. Our due diligence experience extends also to supporting investment firms having similar needs for technology evaluation of potential portfolio companies.
Strategic Partnerships, Joint Ventures, and Venture Capital Financings
We have structured numerous major technology collaborations including technology transfer agreements, research and development agreements, acquisition agreements, joint ventures, marketing, supply, and distribution deals for clients across technology industries.
We are regularly called upon to help identify sources of capital and to structure appropriate financing arrangements. We structure, negotiate, and document private equity, venture capital and angel investments to align the interest of both the business and its investors. We have also formed private equity/venture capital funds with an investment focus in this industry.
We have represented both publicly traded and privately held technology companies in a wide variety of M&A transactions, including stock and asset acquisitions, mergers, tender offers, leveraged buyouts and spin-offs.
We assist our clients in accessing the public securities markets, guiding the public offering process from preparation of registration statements and prospectuses, and negotiation of underwriting and placement terms, to preparation of listing applications with respect to the major exchanges. We also regularly advise our publicly traded clients on continuing disclosure and compliance issues under U.S. federal and state securities laws.
Antitrust and Competition Issues
We support technology companies facing challenging antitrust issues by identifying and addressing real risks associated in structuring mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures; sales programs; and exclusive arrangements and joint marketing efforts. We also assist clients facing governmental inquiries and regulatory scrutiny of antitrust claims.
Data Use and Privacy
Technology companies often handle massive amounts of data, and we regularly assist clients with data use and monetization policies; cybersecurity preparedness; vendor assessment and management; and information governance. Our technology transactions attorneys advise clients on navigating the risks associated with personally identifiable data (PII), protected health information (PHI), and commercial transaction data to develop effective strategies for ensuring cybersecurity compliance and lawful use of data.
Clients We Serve
Snell & Wilmer represents a diverse group of technology clients from a multitude of industries, products, and services such as SaaS, mobile Apps, semiconductors, microchips, electric vehicles, fiber optics, batteries, telehealth providers, life sciences, diagnostic instrumentation, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, electronic medical records, regenerative medicine, financial services, blockchain and cryptocurrency, educational technology, consumer products, biological therapies, aerospace systems, natural resources and alternative fuels, software, wireless communications networks and devices, among others.
Why Clients Select Us
Collaboration: Snell & Wilmer has the resources to service technology companies throughout their entire life cycle. Our technology transactions group is highly collaborative, and includes lawyers with experience in intellectual property, corporate and securities, data privacy, and life sciences. Snell & Wilmer lawyers regularly work with one another to provide our clients with comprehensive and sound legal advice.
Comprehensive and Connected: As part of a full-service law firm, Snell & Wilmer’s technology transactions group can offer clients the benefit of an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving. A substantial number of matters handled by the group involve other substantive areas of law, including federal and state/local tax, intellectual property, antitrust, immigration, employee benefits, securities litigation, environmental and labor. In such cases, we draw upon the experience and skills of Snell & Wilmer attorneys in these practice areas to advance our clients’ interests strategically and efficiently.
Recognized, Involved, and Invested: Snell & Wilmer attorneys are consistently voted among the Best Lawyers in America®, recognized as Super Lawyers and listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business®. Additionally, our attorneys are frequent speakers and authors in several areas of concentration, such as emerging businesses, securities regulation, corporate governance, fund formation, venture capital, franchise and distribution law and mergers and acquisitions. We also offer seminars and management training sessions that can be customized to a specific client's industry and business needs.
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