Vaska, Michael K.

We are happy to announce that John D. van Loben Sels has joined WHGC as a partner.  John will be an invaluable addition to our intellectual property team and will be working out of our Mountain View Office.

John brings over 13 years of experience in complex patent infringement and other intellectual property litigation matters in both federal district court and the U.S. International Trade Commission.  He has handled cases dealing with a variety of different technologies ranging from semiconductor design to wireless telephony to software and computer design.  Additionally, he has managed licensing negotiations with U.S. and international patent holding companies as well as several pre-litigation patent infringement and licensing counseling matters concerning LCD technology.

John's experience is not limited to Intellectual Property matters.  He also has considerable experience with Federal Securities laws, and with corporate governance issues.  In fact, he has advised corporate boards regarding the implementation of certain defensive measures such as poison pills.

John is registered to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office and he is licensed in California and Texas. He has been admitted to practice before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  He received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center where he was on the Dean's List each semester and graduated Cum Laude.  While at Georgetown, John served as a Criminal Procedure Project Editor for the Georgetown Law Journal.  In addition to his J.D., John received two Bachelor's degrees from Stanford University in Civil Engineering and Political Science.

Prior to joining Wang, Hartmann, Gibbs & Cauley, John worked for several prestigious law firms.

Dechert LLP, January 2006-February 2009
John served as a Senior Associate at Dechert LLP where he specialized in patent litigation, representing an international computer maker in multiple patent actions in both the Western District of Wisconsin and the U.S. International Trade Commission.  His work also included representation of a semiconductor maker in patent infringement actions pending before the U.S. International Trade Commission along with representation of an electronic design automation provider in two complex multi-patent actions pending in the Northern District of California and the District of Delaware.  John gained additional experience conducting trade secret representations for an electronic design automation software tool provider.

While at Dechert, John supervised multiple senior and junior associates conducting various pretrial projects.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, May 2004-January 2006
John served as a Senior Associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges where he represented both patent holders and alleged infringers in preparing Markman briefs, expert reports, trial briefs, and other pleadings in a wide variety of patent and other intellectual property actions and forums, including a pending $700 million recombinant DNA patent action.  John did copyright, trademark and trade secret work for an internet consumer service company, a consumer finance software company and an internet and catalog retailer.  He also gained experience in other patent action technologies involving online gaming and debit card management.  Additionally, John advised a hedge fund client regarding portfolio companies with significant pending patent litigation and FTC matters.

While at Quinn Emanuel, John supervised a large team of mid-level and junior associates conducting various legal research and fact investigation projects.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, August 2001-April 2004
John served as an Associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he was involved in patent actions regarding the following:  wireless telephone billing systems, video and conventional slot machines, software security systems, kidney dialysis systems and other medical device technologies.  He also engaged in licensing negotiations on behalf of alleged infringers, prepared claim charts analyzing infringement and validity issues.

While at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher John gained experience working on securities matters involving federal and state shareholder class actions, and corporate control contests.  He represented securities issuers before a variety of parallel securities investigations by government agencies, including the SEC, United States Attorney, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, and FDIC.

John was also responsible for supervising a large team of junior associates for a software applications company in its defense of a hostile takeover attempt by a competitor.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, August 1998-August 2001
John served as an Associate at Wilson Sonsini where he engaged in intellectual property and securities litigation, including:  patent actions involving DRAM and SRAM design patents; a trade secret action on behalf of an Internet router company; state and federal class actions against several securities issuers; merger litigation trial team; officer and director liability actions; and appellate matters in both state and federal courts.  John also represented a witness before a federal grand jury, and European citizens in an investigation by the United States attorney and Securities Exchange Commission.

While at Wilson Sonsini, John's clients included a semiconductor fabrication company, an Internet router development company, a large database company, a national airline, and a major commercial aircraft manufacturer.

Bickel & Brewer, 1995-1998
John served as an Associate at Bicker and Brewer.  While there, he was responsible for complex commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts, including lead counsel on a victorious three-day jury trial.  He also negotiated settlements and prosecuting claims for a bankruptcy trustee, served on a trial team for a $2.1 billion merger litigation, and was apart of the trial team for bench trial in Delaware bankruptcy court.

United States Air Force, 1988-1992
Early in John's career he was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and a Project Engineer. He designed and built a variety of heavy construction projects with crews of up to 35 craftsmen throughout the Republic of Korea, Japan and the Philippines.  His projects included roads, industrial shop facilities and explosive demolition ranges. He also served as an environmental engineer at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland where he was responsible for ensuring compliance with federal hazardous waste management laws and regulations.

United States House of Representatives, 1987-1988
John served as the legislative assistant to Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton.  While there, he handled position papers on housing and military education matters, and constituent relations.