Lee C. Cheng
Attorney at Law Shareholder
Lee C. Cheng
Attorney at Law Shareholder
Lee C. Cheng is a two-time winner (2014 and 2016) of the National Law Journal’s America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel, and numerous other awards for innovation and excellence in the practice of law. He views legal issues and challenges from the client perspective, and understands that the ultimate purpose of all legal work is to meet client business objectives.
Lee’s insights on client service comes from more than 20 years at top law firms like Latham & Watkins, and as a C-level legal and operations executive in global, multibillion dollar companies like Newegg.com (Chief Legal Officer, SVP Corporate Development, SVP Human Resources, Corporate Secretary) and Gibson Brands, the owner of Gibson Guitars (Chief Operating Officer).
Lee’s practice spans a broad array of disciplines, from corporate transactional work, M&A, governance, to intellectual property, licensing and litigation management and advice. He has delivered uniquely positive outcomes for clients in both commercial and intellectual property litigation matters. Lee is regarded as a national expert on defending companies against frivolous patent assertions and other types of extortionary litigation.
In addition to the awards mentioned above, Lee was named an “Intellectual Property Trailblazer & Pioneer” (2014)–also by the National Law Journal, and received the IP Vanguard Award (2013) from the IP Section of the State Bar of California. In 2018, he became the recipient of the inaugural Champion of Equal Opportunity Education Rights Award of the Asian American Coalition for Education.
Cheng presently serves on the Board of Industry Leaders of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the largest technology focused trade association in the world and the operator of the Consumer Electronics Show and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the CTA Foundation and the Asian American Legal Foundation. In the past, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel-Southern California Chapter, the Harvard Club of San Francisco, the Lowell High School Alumni Association, the Asian American Coalition for Education, and the Organization of Chinese Americans-San Francisco Chapter.
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Education
- J.D., University of California, UC Berkeley School of Law
- A.B., Harvard University, History & Science, magna cum laude
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Practice Focus
- Outside general counsel services
- Litigation management and counseling—intellectual property and commercial
- Intellectual property counseling
- Commercial and intellectual property contracts and licenses
- Corporate formation, finance and M&A
- Corporate governance and compliance
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Professional Admissions & Associations
- State Bar of California
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association-Member, Founder and Chair emeritus of the Prospective Partners Program
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Publications, Speaking Engagements & Presentations
- “Innovative IP Strategies for AI Development, Monetization & Protection”, IP+AI Conference, Washington DC (November 2018)
- “What Clients Want and Expect of Outside Counsel,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute – IP Law Institute (April 2018)
- “How Technology is Changing the Business of Law,” Ally Law-Americas Regional Conference (November 2017)
- Distinguished speaker, IP Law Summit (March 2015)
- Distinguished speaker, Chief Legal Office Exchange (March 2015)
- Patent Troll Symposium, Chapman University Law Review Symposium (January 2015)\
- The Troll Toll: Ending Patent Abuse, Consumer Electronics Association Consumer Electronics Show (January 2015)
Many other topics, ranging from effective management of outside counsel, patent litigation, managing boards, conducting internal investigations, doing business in China, civil rights.
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Second Language
- Mandarin Chinese
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Awards & Recognition
- 2018 Champion of Equal Opportunity in Education Rights, Asian American Coalition for Education (2018)
- Corporate Leadership Award, Asian American Bar Association of New York (2017)
- America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel, National Law Journal (2016, 2014)
- In-House Impact Award, The Recorder (2015)
- Top 50 IP Trailblazer and Pioneer, National Law Journal (2014)
- Vanguard Award, State Bar of California IP Section (2013)
- In-House Counsel of the Year, Daily Journal (2013)
- Innovation Award, NYU-Polytechnic (2011)
- Top 10 Law Department Innovation Award, InsideCounsel Magazine (2011)
- Institute for Civil Justice Southern California Leadership Counsel of the top 50 lawyers in Southern California, RAND Institute
- Best Lawyers under 40, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (2009)
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Representative Matters
Litigation
Lee has managed to successful conclusion dozens of complex litigation matters for clients, including the following:
- https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/newegg-fought-its-way-through-two-appeals-to-win-fees-from-this-patent-holder/
- https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/encryption-patent-that-roiled-newegg-is-dead-on-appeal/
- https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/patent-troll-realizes-it-sued-newegg-drops-lawsuit-the-next-day/
- https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/05/newegg-nukes-corporate-troll-alcatel-in-third-patent-appeal-win-this-year/
- https://www.ecommercefuel.com/ecommerce-patent-dispute/
- https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/newegg-and-geico-stop-patent-troll-that-sued-dozens-over-forms-on-apps/
- https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/09/shopping-cart-patent-troll-tries-to-save-itself-gets-pounded-by-newegg /
Intellectual Property
- Provided advice re: prosecution, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Corporate and Transactional
- Represented issuers, underwriters and lenders in public equity and debt transactions.
- Represented issuers, investors and lenders in private equity and debt transactions.
- Represented partners, sellers and purchasers in the purchase and sale of entities, assets and businesses, and the creation of partnerships and joint ventures.
- Represented various parties in strategic agreements, including intellectual property licenses.
Employment Matters
- Represented executives in negotiating employment and severance agreements, and employers in negotiating the same.
- Provided counseling to clients re: equity and other long term incentives.
Real Estate
- Represented purchaser of commercial buildings.
- Represented tenants in numerous leases and buildouts.
News and Articles