T: 415.954.4445
F: 415.954.4480
rthompson@fbm.com
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Roderick M. Thompson, Partner
Rod Thompson has more than twenty five years of experience in high-stakes civil litigation and trials. His practice emphasizes complex commercial litigation, including intellectual property and antitrust cases. He serves as an arbitrator and mediator in technology-related controversies and as Judge Pro Tem.
Mr. Thompson achieved a complete victory by obtaining a final judgment on all five patents allegedly covering prepaid cards based on a favorable claims construction ruling on the first morning of a scheduled two-day Markman hearing. His trials have included disputes over patents covering cardiovascular stents, patents on wet processing methods and apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor chips, intermittent windshield wiper patents, valuation of a well-known international trademark, appropriate royalties owed under a software licensing agreement and the amount of commissions owed a terminated distributor.
Mr. Thompson's recent clients have included Visa Inc., Sabre, Inc, The Clorox Corporation, Sears Roebuck & Company, Travelocity.com., and Walmart.com. He has successfully defended clients against charges of attempted monopolization of the GDS (computerized reservation services) market and alleged patent infringement by contactless payments cards and replacement refrigerator water filters. He has represented an inventor of a software security patent, a maker of chip sets for Global Positioning Systems (GPS) receivers, a Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturer, an Internet Service Provider, a CADCAM software company, a non-profit research institution and a biotech startup. He has litigated copyright disputes over software used on telephone call center switches, voice-messaging software, firefighter figurines from 9/11, gray market knickknacks imported from Asia, the rights to the Beach Boys catalog of songs, and the copyright on day-timers. In the trademark area, he has tackled domain name disputes for internet companies, trademark litigation for clients in the apparel, sugar, wine, hotel and telecommunications industries.
Mr. Thompson is a frequent speaker and author on intellectual property, antitrust and efficient dispute resolution. His expert commentary is frequently quoted by media outlets. He is admitted to practice in the United States and California Supreme Courts; United States Court of Appeals for the Third, Ninth and Federal Circuits; and many United States District Courts.