Attorneys serving Massachusetts, Rhode Island

Stephen Y. Chow

Partner

Office Phone: 617.345.3263
Location: Boston, MA
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Practice:

Bar Admissions:

Massachusetts
New York
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals First, Second and Federal Circuits
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and S.D.N.Y.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Experience:

Prior to joining Burns & Levinson LLP in January 2006, Stephen Chow was a partner with the firm Perkins Smith & Cohen LLP.

Over three decades of practice, Mr. Chow has developed numerous patent portfolios and strategies for chemical, electrical, information technology and life sciences enterprises, litigated patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, antitrust, unfair competition, international trade, telecommunications and e-commerce cases before state and federal courts and agencies. Mr. Chow has coordinated or served as an expert in litigation before foreign tribunals. He has also advised manufacturers, telecommunications carriers, commercial exchanges and educational, financial and research institutions on commercial, legislative and regulatory matters, particularly in internal policies and development of new services and products, as well as in early-stage financing. Mr. Chow sees himself as a strategist and trouble-shooter for technology companies in financial, governance and intellectual property disputes and development.

Appointed by Governor Weld in 1995, and reappointed by subsequent administrations, as a Massachusetts Uniform Law Commissioner, Mr. Chow served on the National Conference's drafting committees on the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (formerly UCC 2B) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and its study committees on Internet taxation, on protection of genetic information, and discovery of electronic evidence. Reporting on electronic evidence issues, Mr. Chow has acted as a special master in cases before the Massachusetts Superior Court.

Memberships:

American Law Institute (elected 1997), active on committees on corporate, employment, intellectual property and international law.
Massachusetts Uniform Law Commission (since 1995)
Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association Business Law Section Council for 2008-2010
Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Commission (2003-05)
Boston Bar Association, Executive Management Board
Boston Bar Association, Education Committee
Boston Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section Steering Committee
Boston Bar Association, Public Policy Committee, Co-Chair
Boston Bar Association, Council (1995-97)
Copyright Society of the USA, Trustee (2002-05)
Massachusetts Bar Association, Business Law Section Council (1994 - present)
Asian-American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, Director (since 1998)
Licensing Executives Society, Chair of the Internet and E-Commerce Committee
Association for Computing Machinery
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Volunteer Lawyers Association, Board of Directors
Massachusetts Bar Association House of Delegates for Suffolk County
Massachusetts legislature's Science and Technology Caucus
Governor Cellucci's E-Government Task Force, former member

Additional Information:

In 2009, Mr. Chow was accepted by the United States Department of State as a United States delegate to Working Group 6 (Secured Transactions) of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), coordinating the international development of secured lending law with a view to intellectual property interests.
Adjunct Faculty, Suffolk University School of Law, "Intellectual Property Litigation", "Counseling Technology-Leading Emerging Enterprises" (since 1995)
General counsel National Association of Asian-American Professionals, Boston Chapter (since 2004)
Host of AALAM quarterly program "Entrepreneurship and Technology" Legal Line show that airs live monthly.
Guggenheim Fellow,Princeton University, Forrestal Laboratory (controlled nuclear fusion project 1975-76)

Education:

J.D., Columbia University School of Law, Stone Scholar, 1979
S.M., Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Applied Physics, 1975
A.B., Harvard College, Physics and Philosophy, cum laude, 1974
Brooklyn Technical High School, Salutatorian, 1970

Awards:

The Martindale-Hubbell legal directory has given Mr. Chow an “AV” peer-rating, its highest, since 1990.
Massachusetts Super Lawyer in 2006, 2005 and 2004. The selection of attorneys is based on a poll and internal research done by Law & Politics Magazine and reviewed by an independent blue ribbon panel of their peers. Listed attorneys and finalists consist of the top 5% of attorneys in Massachusetts. The listing appeared in the November issue of Boston Magazine and in New England Super Lawyers Magazine.

Quotes:

2/12/2010, Boston Business Journal - The money question: Recession highlights long-simmering issue of costs
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Mary K. Pratt.
10/9/2009, Boston Herald - Phoenix sues online giant Facebook over Web technology patent
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Jay Fitzgerald.
9/21/2009, The National Law Journal - TestMasters agrees to pay more than $1M to settle dispute over LSAT license
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Sheri Qualters.
9/11/2009, E-Commerce Times - DoJ Puts Microhoo Under the Microscope
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Erika Morphy.
6/20/2008, InfoWorld - Non-compete pacts called bad for tech innovation
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Chris Kanarakus.
6/13/2008, Boston Business Journal - Bases to cover before you put the 'for sale' sign
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Catherine Williams.
12/1/2006, Massachusetts Bar Association Lawyers Journal - Beyond the Headlines: IBM sues Amazon for refusing to negotiate patent license fees
Stephen Chow and Bruce Jobse were both quoted in this article by Andrea R. Barter, Esq.
10/20/2006, Newburyport Current - Escaping the Blog Bog
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Ulrika G. Gerth.
7/3/2006, MA Lawyers Weekly - Not Welcome at the Bar?
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Noah Schaffer, which focused on foreign lawyers sitting on the Bar Examination.
3/31/2006, Boston Business Journal - Record keeping the key to protecting the firm's IP
Stephen Chow was quoted in this article by Sheri Qualters.
3/6/2006, Momentum - Managing IP Assets
Stephen Chow was interviewed by Paula Jacobs on February 13, 2006 for the Microsoft.com online magazine, Momentum, on Managing IP Assets.
2/22/2006 - AALAM Legaline
On February 22, 2006 Stephen Chow hosted the Asian-American Lawyers of Massachusetts ("AALAM") Legaline show, which aired live. The show was the first in a quarterly series on "Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property" and began with a discussion of business organization with AALAM director, Jan-Yung Lin of Goodwin Procter.

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Recent Articles and Publications:

E-Commerce and Communications
Matthew Bender/Lexis Nexis Publishing, 2002 - present
Updated semi-annually

Speaking Engagements:

Online Pricing: Who Has the Authority to Set Price?, 3.10.2010
Location: West LegalEdcenter Webcast
Role: Speaker

2010 RSA Conference, 3.2.2010
Location: San Francisco, CA
Role: Panelist
Topic: Uniform Cybersecurity Standards: Is State or Federal Law a Better Approach?

Preventing and Handling Data Security Breaches, 1.12.2010
Location: MCLE Program
Role: Chair

Preventing and Handling Data Security Breaches, 12.10.2009
Location: MCLE Program
Role: Chair

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