Representing clients ranging from startup companies to global brands and academia, William (“Bill”) Hunter focuses his practice on patent prosecution and counseling, patent opinions, product clearance, due diligence investigations, and post-grant proceedings. He also provides strategic advice to clients in other areas of intellectual property law, including trademark, copyright, and trade secret law.
Bill is strategic and analytical. Well-versed in the field of computer sciences, electrical engineering, and related technologies, he maintains a global practice focused on patent protection, enforcement, and commercialization.
Named a 2020 Leader in Law by the San Diego Business Journal, Bill has decades of experience advising individuals, universities and research institutions, startups, technology and manufacturing companies, and others on developing and managing U.S. and international patent portfolios across wide-ranging technologies. He also provides strategic advice and direction to clients in other IP law matters, including trademark, copyright, and trade secrets. Bill advises clients at the intersection of IP, law, and business. He is experienced in drafting and prosecuting patents at the leading edge of technological innovation, including:
Computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD and CAM) software
3D printing
Blockchain (distributed ledgers)
Artificial intelligence (machine learning)
Computer networking, digital systems, and internet-related technologies
Content delivery, encryption, and video on demand (VOD) systems
Image processing and manipulation, including for reading of barcodes, QR codes, etc.
Data search, management, and visualization
Wireless communication and mobile devices and systems, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies
Radio frequency identification (RFID) and near field communication (NFC) devices and systems
Solid-state memory devices and control systems (SSD, flash memory, SDRAM, and DDRAM); embedded systems
Data storage systems, including magnetic disk and optical disc technologies, redundant array of independent disks (RAID), and network attached storage (NAS) systems
Laser-based systems, mechanical devices, and product-marking technologies
Bill is also experienced in digital health, medical devices, nanotechnology, optics, and telecommunications inventions.
Bill has served as the patent group leader for Fish’s California offices for more than a decade. He frequently presents on patent prosecution matters and does pro bono legal work, most recently to help with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program’s eviction crises clinic. He was an early member of CONNECT’s tech-transfer roundtable that promotes the commercialization of discoveries at local research institutions and universities and has protected significant IP and useful discoveries for businesses and academia.
Bill lives in San Diego, but his clientele and practice take him throughout the world.
