Overview
Piers is a patent attorney and principal at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner. He is a Global Patent Fellow (admitted 2015) at the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and is a former Chief Patent Counsel, Vice President, and International General Counsel at Kimberly Clark Corporation.
Piers is passionate about scoping, building, and managing patent portfolios efficiently. He believes that patent portfolios should be strategic assets that provide strong ROI and align with a solid business strategy. Having worked in-house and in private practice for several multinationals and prominent companies, Piers brings a practical “can do” attitude to portfolio strategy and growth. Piers has strong litigation, freedom to operate, and design-around experience.
Piers’ practice includes strategic IP counseling, patent prosecution (US and foreign), patent validity, infringement analysis and opinions, risk assessment, global patent litigation, and IP due diligence work. Piers is a frequent speaker on intellectual property topics and is a co-author of several intellectual property publications.
Piers decided to pursue patent law after working as a mechanical engineer at a platinum mine in South Africa. He explains, “I’m an engineer at heart and have a lifelong interest in new technology.” He continues, “As a patent attorney, I am exposed to new technology constantly and have had the good fortune to meet many creative people. An invention has to be ‘new’ to be patentable, so this puts us at the cutting edge of technology and thought leadership – and I like that.” Piers enjoys working with inventors and engineers. “They are positive, creative people who think about their world and want to make it a better place.”
Piers is also interested in music and adventure sports. “When I was younger, I played violin professionally and usually have some music on when I work.” He can recount many exciting times trying new sports: “I have a sailing skipper’s ticket and was selected for the Sailing Youth Worlds and Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. I have a rescue diver certification, and once tried bungee-jumping, skydiving, and ran an ultramarathon – the Comrades in South Africa. I now live in Santa Cruz and love hitting the waves and going fast downhill on my mountain bike. I feel new tech fits in with all of this!”
Education
University of Cape Town
South Africa, Bachelor of Engineering, 1986
B. Sc. Mechanical Engineering (cum laude)
University of South Africa Faculty of Law
Pretoria, South Africa
1991, J.D. Equivalent (cum laude)
Cox School of Business – Southern Methodist University
General Counsel Forum, 2007
Bar Admissions & Associations
Bar Admissions
California
Georgia
South Africa
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Associations
Federal Circuit Bar Association – Global Patent Fellow in 2015
American Intellectual Property Law Association
American Bar Association, IP Law
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, UK
Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association
Intellectual Property Owners Association
Speaking Engagements
Presenter, “Become a Great Business Partner as an IP Attorney”
Technology and Patent Summit, San Jose, CA September 5, 2014
Presenter, “Global Monetization of Intellectual Property”
Webinar, Atlanta, GA October 14, 2014
Presenter, “3D Printing and Utility Patents”
AIPLA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. October 23, 2014
Presenter, “International Patent Monetization”
Tech and IP Summit, Santa Clara University, San Jose, CA May 6, 2016
Presenter, “Foreign Filing Strategies”
State Bar of California, San Diego, CA September 29, 2016
Presenter, “Adding Value in Patenting Open Source Software and Artificial Intelligence (AI)”
Tech Summit, San Luis Obispo, CA November 30, 2016
Presenter, “Alice – Some Unintended Consequences”
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA October 11, 2017
Presenter, “Patents 101 for Engineers”
Tech Summit, San Luis Obispo, CA November 6, 2018
Co-presenter, “Understanding IP Due Diligence from the Investor’s Point of View”
University of California at San Francisco, Rosenman Institute, San Francisco, CA May 30, 2019
Co-moderator, “IP for Medical Device Companies: What to Consider During Fund Raising … Or Exit”
SLW Institute Emerging Tech Webinar Series, Minneapolis, MN November 7, 2019
Co-presenter, “Diversity & Inclusion: Can the Pandemic Help Us Work Toward a More Inclusive New Normal?”
SLW Institute Destination IP Virtual Conference, August 7, 2020
Co-moderator, “The Economics and Management of Next-Generation IP Departments and Law Firms in Light of COVID-19”
SLW Institute Destination IP Virtual Conference, August 13, 2020
Moderator, “The USPTO IP Attaché Program: Structures, Goals, and the Current Situation in China”
IPO’s IP Chat Channel Discussion, March 2, 2021
Co-presenter, “How to Make and Use Portfolio Curation, Competitive Patent Landscape and SWOT Analysis Reports”
SLW Institute Analytics How-to Webinar Series Episode 02, March 25, 2021
Co-presenter, “SLW Digital Transformation Case Study: Prosecution II – Claim Tracking, Reference Analysis Tools and Reports, Prosecution Landscape Tools and Reports, IDS Management”
SLW Institute Digital Transformation of the Legal Industry Webinar Series
Episode 05, June 10, 2021
