Nader Mousavi
Nader Mousavi is a partner in the Technology Transactions and Licensing Practice Group of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. He joined the firm in 2001. After four years in the Boston office, he returned to his native California in 2005 as a co-founder of the firm's Palo Alto office.
Mr. Mousavi leads the firm’s technology transactions practice for the West Coast. He focuses his practice on transactions that leverage technology, content and intellectual property to achieve the business objectives of entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders. He is an expert in a wide range of transactions, including partnering, alliances, collaborations, mergers, acquisitions, spin-outs, outsourcing, settlements and licensing. His clients include startups and Fortune 1000 companies. In 2007, Mr. Mousavi was named by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal as one of the top “40 under 40” business professionals in Silicon Valley.
Mr. Mousavi began his career as an entrepreneur. He led strategy and legal affairs for TCS—a telecom software (SaaS) company backed by Cisco and Nomura—from its startup phase in 1997 through its growth to $30 million in annual revenue and its successful acquisition in 2000 for over $150 million by Convergent Networks, a leading broadband infrastructure company. He served as senior counsel for Convergent Networks through its filing for an initial public offering. Mr. Mousavi later also served on special assignment to Cisco Systems, where he was lead technology counsel to Cisco’s IP communications business unit.
Mr. Mousavi's clients are active in technology, clean technology and life sciences. His clients have included:
Wireless, software and hardware: Apple (products/hardware/services), Bose (audio products), Cisco (networking/communications), Kodak (digital imaging), Mintera (optical networking), MDS (broadband, acquired by General Electric), Palm (mobile handsets), and RedHat (open source platforms).
Internet, digital media and gaming: Avid (digital media tools for film/audio), DoubleClick (Internet advertising, acquired by H&F, then Google), Education.com (educational website), Grist.org (environmental website), iFone (mobile games, acquired by Glu Mobile), SkillSoft (online education/training), and SodaHead.com (social networking website).
Semiconductors: ASML (lithography equipment), Azuro (EDA software), Broadcom (wireless chips), Glonav (GPS chips, acquired by NXP), Intel (processors), NanoNexus (MEMS contactors), ParthusCeva (DSP cores), and Skyworks (wireless chips).
Clean technology: A123 (batteries), Kior (biofuels), Khosla Ventures (investor), Petra Solar (PV solar), PrimaFuel (biofuels), Q-Cells (silicon for solar cells), Range Fuels (cellulosic ethanol), and Seeo (batteries).
Life sciences: Altus (protein therapies), Attenuon (cancer therapies), AVEO Pharmaceuticals (cancer models and therapies), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morningside Ventures (investor), Millennium (acquired by Takeda), MPM Capital (investor), Novartis (pharmaceuticals), NxStage (renal care).
Recent Highlights
Mr. Mousavi has represented:
* Broadcom Corporation, in its alliances with Nokia for smartphone and modem technologies
* Education.com, in content and contributor transactions, including with PBS
* Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in its establishment of the Broad Institute
* Mintera, in its alliance with JDSU for 40G optical components
* Palm, Inc., in agreements with various industry leaders
* Q-Cells AG, in its alliance with Solaria , including $3.4 billion in supply of silicon for solar cells
* Seeo, in its license agreement with Lawrence Berkeley Lab for battery technology
* Skyworks, in its acquisition of Freescale's GaAs power amplifier business
* SodaHead.com, in its Series B financing with Mission and Mohr Davidow Ventures
Honors and Awards
* Recognized in the 2009 edition of Northern California Super Lawyers for his business/corporate practice.
* Recognized as a leader in IT and IT outsourcing in the 2009 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Business
* Recognized as one of the top “40 under 40” business professionals in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal (2007)
* Recipient of the firm’s Reginald Heber Smith Award for community service (2007)
* Selected as a White House Fellows Program regional finalist (2005)
* Recognized as one of the top "40 under 40" business professionals in Boston by the Boston Business Journal (2004)
* Selected as one of 10 "Public Interest Leaders" in Greater Boston by the Boston Bar Association (2003)
Professional Activities
Mr. Mousavi is a member of the Advisory Board for Stanford Law School’s Program in Law, Science & Technology, as well as the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Licensing Executive Society.
Mr. Mousavi serves as Co-Chair of the firm's Diversity Committee, is a member of the firm's Pro Bono and Public Service Committee, Senior Associates Committee, and Pro Bono and Business Intake Approval Committees, and a member of the Hiring Committee for the Palo Alto office.
Mr. Mousavi is a member of the California Council of Champions for Citizen Schools, a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing after-school education for middle-school children, and since 2001, he has regularly volunteered as a Citizen Teacher in Citizen Schools’ mock trial program. He is also a founding member of the Northern California Chapter of the Iranian-American Bar Association.