Timothy D. Casey

He | Him | His

Partner

Seattle
T +1.206.332.1107
F +1.206.624.7317

Overview

Timothy Casey has practiced IP and technology law for over 30 years and has a broad-based practice that includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, open source, licensing, transaction and due diligence matters. Tim represents clients with all types of technology transactional matters, as well as business planning and transitions, policy and strategy, particularly for emerging companies, for which he often operates as an outside general counsel.

Tim has a heightened understanding of in-house counsel needs and limitations, as well as a sophisticated knowledge of business operations and the nuances associated with how businesses work. He spent decades serving as in-house counsel to IP and transactional departments for large corporations in Silicon Valley and Washington D.C., and previously ran the IP group for a Wall Street law firm, supporting M&A and corporate transactions. Tim also co-founded and managed a firm providing business and legal services to small to medium-sized entrepreneurial companies.

Tim has written and prosecuted thousands of patents worldwide for a wide range of technologies, including electrical/electronics, computer science, medical devices, mechanical, physics and industrial. He has managed trademark portfolios including more than 10,000 marks and written and negotiated business and technology contracts for clients ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to Fortune 50 companies. Tim’s extensive industry experience combined with his thorough comprehension of business makes him a trusted source for domestic and international clients on their patent, trademark and other IP matters.

Tim is the Seattle partner-in-charge and the Seattle Intellectual Property Leader.

Select Experience

  • Provides IP and technology transactional support to a large number of companies in North America, Europe and Asia in a wide range of industries, including software, electronics, consumer products, gaming, medical devices, semiconductors, telecommunications, services, chemical/cleantech and manufacturing.

Prior Experience

  • Played a leading role in the establishment of Apple’s patent program as one of the company’s first patent attorneys, including creation of its incentive program, invention disclosure and processing operation, IP database and management program, and patent licensing operations. Initiated the effort to protect software and user interface technology, resulting in licensing revenue in excess of $100 million.

Patents Invented (14 and Counting)

  • U.S. Patent No. 6,556,662, issued April 29, 2003, titled “Method and Apparatus for Providing Dialed Number Verification.” This patent is owned by Verizon.
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Experience

  • Provides IP and technology transactional support to a large number of companies in North America, Europe and Asia in a wide range of industries, including software, electronics, consumer products, gaming, medical devices, semiconductors, telecommunications, services, chemical/cleantech and manufacturing.
  • Identifies buyers and successfully negotiates the sale of patent portfolios.
  • Drafted and negotiated research and consortium agreements involving dozens of academic institutions.
  • Manages IP and transactional due diligence in support of numerous public and private commercial transactions.
  • Prepares licensing, confidentiality, procurement, development, outsourcing, sales, distribution, alliance and other types of software, communication or service agreements.
  • Successfully defended ex parte reexaminations, leading to very positive settlements of patent litigation on behalf of patent owners.
  • Successfully opposed trademark registrations in the U.S. and Europe on behalf of a number of clients’ marks.
  • Created the strategy behind the development of a portfolio of a large number of patents, including the successful submission of a nearly 3,000-page swear-behind declaration.
  • Represented numerous smaller companies opposing legislation leading to the America Invents Act of 2011 and played a significant role in preventing the legislation from being voted on in the Senate in 2010.
  • Served as one of the earliest WIPO domain name dispute resolution services panelists, deciding more than 60 disputes since 2000.
  • Developed and introduced the concept of “notice and take down” as a statutory solution to copyright infringement over the Internet within the U.S., and led a policy team supporting inclusion of the concept in the DMCA and globally through the EU’s E-Commerce Directive.
  • Represented a surveillance company in trademark battle with a Serbian pirate. Obtained a successful outcome for the client through a worldwide settlement agreement and created a plan for continued protection of the client’s trademarks as the company and its IP portfolio grow.

Prior Experience

  • Played a leading role in the establishment of Apple’s patent program as one of the company’s first patent attorneys, including creation of its incentive program, invention disclosure and processing operation, IP database and management program, and patent licensing operations. Initiated the effort to protect software and user interface technology, resulting in licensing revenue in excess of $100 million.
  • Created IP and technology transactions programs at a computer hardware and software company, including IP training and marketing materials, unique incentive and trade secret programs, a profitable IP licensing program and a database and management program that was subsequently licensed to a commercial provider.
  • Created an IP/tech department for a major telecommunications company, resulting in hundreds of issued patents; more than a thousand newly pending applications; a 60 percent reduction in trademark expenses while increasing the strength of the company’s portfolio worldwide; an integrated, corporate-wide procurement operation; and a licensing and litigation strategy that saved the company more than $700 million and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
  • Co-founded the IP operations of a novel IP and business development firm called SilverSky Group and ran the group for nearly eight years, gaining unique insight as to what it is like for clients to start and run their own businesses.
  • Initiated a licensing and litigation program, including acquisition of the right to license/enforce the Katz patent portfolio with respect to a major telecommunications company, resulting in successful settlement of related litigation. The Katz license was the first of its kind and is now known in the industry as the “Hunting License.”

Patents Invented (14 and Counting)

  • U.S. Patent No. 6,556,662, issued April 29, 2003, titled “Method and Apparatus for Providing Dialed Number Verification.” This patent is owned by Verizon.
  • U.S. Patent Nos. 7,424,447, issued September 9, 2008; 7,848,962, issued December 7, 2010; 8,135,629, issued March 13, 2012; and 8,484,090, issued July 9, 2013, all titled “List-Based Selection System and Methods for Using Same,” and U.S. Patent No. 10,157,403, issued December 18, 2018, titled “List-based Coupon System and Methods.” These patents are owned by Google LLC.
  • U.S. Patent No. 8,647,273, issued February 11, 2014, titled “Non-invasive Weight and Performance Management.”
  • U.S. Patent No. 11,045,683, issued June 29, 2021, titled “Weight Lifting Apparatus and System.”
  • Co-inventor, U.S. Patent No. 9,639,871, issued May 2, 2017, titled “Methods and Apparatuses for Assigning Moods to Content and Searching for Moods to Select Content,” U.S. Patent No. 9,875,304, issued January 1, 2018, titled “Music Selection and Organization Using Audio Fingerprints,” U.S. Patent No. 10,061,476, issued August 28, 2018, titled “Systems and Methods for Identifying, Search, Organizing, Selecting and Distributing Content Based on Mood, U.S. Patent No. 10,242,097, issued March 26, 2019, titled “Music Selection and Organization Using Rhythm, Texture and Pitch,” U.S. Patent No. 10,225,328, issued March 5, 2019, titled “Music Selection and Organization Using Audio Fingerprints,” and U.S. Patent No. 10,623,480, issued April 29, 2020, titled “Music Categorization Using Rhythm, Texture and Pitch.”

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • Chambers USA: Intellectual Property in Washington (2022)
    • Band 4 (2022)
  • IAM Patent 300 - The World's Leading IP Strategists (2019)
  • IAM Patent 1000 - The World's Leading Patent Practitioners
    • Washington: Recommended for Patent Prosecution (2014 to 2021)
    • Washington: Recommended for Transactions (2020 to 2021)

Community

  • CHIBB Foundation (1998 to 2004)
    • Co-founder
    • Board of Directors
  • Glories Happy Hats, Inc. (2000 to 2005)
    • Board of Directors
    • Chair
  • Economic Development Authority of Northern Nevada: Board Member (2005 to 2009)
  • The Solace Tree, Child and Adolescent Center for Grief and Loss (2005 to 2007)
    • Board of Directors
    • Chair

Pro Bono

  • Managed a team of attorneys within the Senior Lawyers Project to support the Clinton Foundation's effort to modify the intellectual property laws of numerous Caribbean nations to enable them to import and distribute generic antiretroviral drugs to HIV/AIDS patients without violating GATT provisions.

Prior Positions

  • American University, Washington College of Law: Adjunct Professor of Law (2003 to 2005)
  • Santa Clara University School of Law: Adjunct Professor of Law (1999 to 2000)
  • SilverSky Group, LLC: Partner and Co-founder (2005 to 2012)
  • Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson: IP & Technology Law Department Chairman (2000 to 2005)
  • MCI Communications Corporation/WorldCom, Inc. (1995 to 2000)
    • Chief Technology Counsel
    • Senior Vice President
    • Assistant Secretary
  • Silicon Graphics, Inc.: Director of Intellectual Property (1992 to 1995)
  • Apple Computer Corporation: Divisional Patent Counsel (1989 to 1992)
  • Committee on Internet Searching and the Domain Name System: Technical Alternatives and Policy Options, of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, The National Academies (2001 to 2005)
  • University of Nevada, College of Engineering: Advisory Board Member (1995 to 2002)
  • Ad Hoc Copyright Group, Co-founder & President (1995 to 1999)
  • Information Technology Association of America: Internet Committee Chair (1998 to 2000)
  • Washoe County Organizational Effectiveness Committee: Board Member (2006 to 2008)
  • Research Ventures Inc.: Official Nevada State Observer (2005 to 2007)
  • University of Nevada (2005 to 2007)
    • Institute for Innovation and Informatics: Executive Director
    • Economic Development Office: Director

Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Federal Claims
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Registration No. 33,124
  • California
  • District of Columbia
  • Washington

Education

  • J.D., Santa Clara University School of Law, 1988
  • B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, 1984