Will is the Partner-in-Charge of the firm's Boston office and the head of the firm's Intellectual Property & Technology Practice Group. As the head of the firm's IP Practice Group, Will's practice focuses on all aspects of technology transfer and intellectual property law, including advising clients with respect to the commercialization of various technologies. Will brings his real world experience to bear on the legal issues faced by the firm's clients, using his background in agriculture, animal science and intellectual property law to help clients identify and protect their intellectual property and to determine the best path to commercialization.
Will is also a member of the firm's Catalyst Program Committee, a program designed to provide affordable legal services to emerging companies.
Will regularly provides clients with legal advice regarding license management and compliance issues, the management of intellectual property portfolios, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, and intellectual property diligence in joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Will worked in the field of agriculture and animal science, including working in the professional farm management/consulting industry from 1976 to 1987 and serving as an agricultural aide to United States Senator Tom Harkin in 1988 and 1989. Will also has experience with embryo transfer and artificial insemination technology and holds certificates in Equine and Bovine Reproduction, Management and Breeding from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, and the Graham School, Garnett, Kansas.
Recent Experience
- Negotiating and preparing sponsored research agreements; research collaboration agreements; material transfer agreements; laboratory services agreements; evaluation agreements; joint venture and technology transfer agreements; consulting agreements; and confidentiality agreements
- Negotiating and preparing licensing agreements, including patent license agreements and license agreements for settlement of litigation
- Representation of public and private companies with significant trademark portfolios in connection with trademark matters, including with regard to clearance, filing, prosecution, licensing and enforcement issues
- Advising and strategizing with clients regarding national and international trademark, patent, and copyright portfolio management, protection, enforcement and licensing
- Negotiating agreements for software and product or device development
- Negotiating the purchase and sale of businesses with significant intellectual property rights and assets
- Advising clients in all aspects of web site development and e-business initiatives
- Conducting intellectual property due diligence for mergers and acquisitions
Honors & Distinctions
Will is listed in
The Best Lawyers in America in the 2009-2012 editions, for Intellectual Property Law, Biotechnology Law and Patent Law, and is listed in
Boston's Best Lawyers, 2011 Edition, for Intellectual Property Law and Biotechnology Law. Will has an AV® Preeminent™ rating in
Martindale-Hubbell.
Will joined Pierce Atwood in 1993 after serving as Law Clerk to the Honorable Harold Vietor, United States District Judge for U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa, from 1991 to 1993.
Professional Activities
Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
Member, Licensing Executives Society
Member, American Agricultural Law Association
Member, INTA (International Trademark Association)
Member, Massachusetts and Maine Bar Associations
Member, Boston Bar Association
Publications
Master's thesis, "Modeling to Generate Alternatives to Least Cost Rations for the Dairy Farm" (a linear programming application designed to generate alternative (nearly optimal) solutions).
Civic Activities
Member, Board of Directors, Biotechnology Association of Maine, 2001 - 2010
Member, Board of Directors, Maine Center for Innovation in Biotechnology, 2001 – 2010
Member, Advisory Board for the University of Maine School of Law Center for Law and Innovation, 2003 - 2009