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Mark H. Wittow  Partner
Seattle  +1.206.370.8399
Fax +1.206.370.6210
mark.wittow@klgates.com Add to Outlook Contacts


Areas of Practice • Professional Background • Professional/Civic Activities • Speaking Engagements • Court Admissions • Bar Admissions • Education • Additional Information

Areas of Practice

Mr. Wittow is a partner in the Seattle office of K&L Gates.  His work focuses on intellectual property and technology transactions and litigation including the acquisition, development, marketing and distribution of computer-related technologies, media content and other types of technology, intellectual property and electronic commerce issues.

Mr. Wittow's recent experience includes preparing agreements, supervising due diligence and resolving issues for the acquisition of online commerce, media, publishing, computer software, financial services, electronic games, energy and transportation companies or assets and in conjunction with the resolution of intellectual property litigation; preparing and negotiating licensing and distribution agreements for computer and other technology companies, and online retail, media (film, music, book and periodical), energy, financial services, engineering, transportation and telecommunications businesses; assisting international businesses with the legal issues and agreements associated with the creation and operation of interactive web sites and software distribution; and assisting authors, filmmakers, musicians and artists with licensing, publication and distribution of their works.  Mr. Wittow represented Microsoft in litigation with Google and with Sun Microsystems and represented the Business Software Alliance in appeals concerning software licensing issues.

Before focusing his practice on intellectual property, Mr. Wittow concentrated on complex energy and natural resources litigation and transactions.  Mr. Wittow was lead counsel for the municipality of Anchorage ’s $120 million acquisition of a one-third working interest in the Beluga River natural gas field and represented the state of Alaska in complex oil and gas tax litigation and the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation.  Over the course of his career at K&L Gates, he also has advised clients on a broad array of legal issues from both a litigation and transactional perspective and served as a hearing officer for the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights and other administrative agencies.

Mr. Wittow is an active member of the intellectual property law section of the American Bar Association.  He is the current chair of the ABA IPL section's Information Technology Division and former co-chair of its Software, Online Trademarks and Databases committees.

Professional Background

Mr. Wittow has been with K&L Gates since 1989. He is designated a "Super Lawyer" by Washington Law & Politics and as among the "Top Lawyers in Washington" by Washington CEO. He also is included in the LawDragon 3000 Leading Lawyers and Marquis Who's Who in American Law and similar publications.  From 1981 to 1985, prior to joining the firm, Mr. Wittow was associate director of state/federal relations for the state of Alaska with responsibility for international trade,  energy and natural resource issues, and special assistant to the Alaska Commissioner of Natural Resources with responsibility for oil and gas leasing, oil and gas royalty sales, land disposals and mining issues.

Professional/Civic Activities
  • Adjunct Faculty, Seattle University Law School  (Arts Legal Clinic)
  • Chair, Information Technology Division, Intellectual Property Law Section, American Bar Association
  • King County Bar Association, Southeast Seattle Neighborhood Legal Clinic
  • Washington Lawyers for the Arts (clinic, presentations and consultations)
  • Artist Trust (presentations)
  • The Mockingbird Society and Seattle Central Community College (legal advice and training for student journalists)
  • Pro Bono Legal Advice to Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle; Seattle Audubon Society (BirdNote); Experience Music Project; Alaska Natural History Association/Alaska Geographic; Confluence Project ; Northwest Folklife Festival; Seattle Men's Chorus; Seattle Public Theater; Community Museum Project of the University of Washington; Covington (WA) Domestic Violence Task Force

Speaking Engagements
Conferences and Prepared Materials
  • "Cloud Computing - Recent Litigation Developments, Anticipating New Claims," Practicing Law Institute (SF), 2010
  • "Competitive Intelligence - Safely Navigating Intellectual Property Minefields," Washington State Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Institute, 2010
  • "Trade Secret Case Law Developments," Law Seminars International Conference on New Trends and Legal Issues in Technology Law, 2009
  • "Anglo-American Information Technology Law and Contracts," Bitkom (Berlin), 2009
  • "Drafting Contracts that Meet Current Business Needs," The Practical and Tactical Art of the Deal in Software Licensing Agreements, American Conference Institute (SF), 2009
  • "Protecting Trade Secrets - Consideration and Practice Tips for Business Agreements and More," Washington State Bar Association "Best of CLE" 2009 (reprised from WSBA IP Licensing Essentials CLE, 2008)
  • "Update on Aspects of Employment Agreements Relating to Intellectual Property," Law Seminars International Conference on Departing Employees and Intellectual Property, 2009
  • Cloud Computing  Issues Roundtable, American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Conference (Arlington, VA), 2009 (moderator)
  • "Avoiding Liability for User Generated Content - Recent DMCA Safe Harbor Cases" (Hot Topics for Transactional Lawyers CLE, 2008)
  • "Life After GPLv3:  New Developments in Open Source Software Licensing," American Bar Association Annual Meeting (NYC), 2008 (organizer)
  • "Conforming Complex Licensing Transactions to Business Objectives," IQPC Patent Strategies Conference (SF), 2008
  • "Protection of Trade Secrets Assets in Business Negotiations and Agreements," Law Seminars International Trade Secrets Conference, 2007
  • Overview of Copyright and Trademark Issues for Small Business, Washington State Bar Association Small Business Institute, 2007
  • "Implications of MedImmune v. Genetech for Patent Licensing, and Other Hot IP Topics," Licensing Executives Society, 2007
  • "An Introduction to and Criticism of Music Copyright Infringement Analysis," King County Bar Association IP Section, 2007
  • "Copyright Essentials - Protection for Architecture and Maps with a Special Focus on Virtual Worlds," Copyright Society of the USA, Northwest Chapter, 2006
  • "Intellectual Property Licensing Trends: Recent Case Law Developments, Annual Intellectual Property Licensing Seminar," Washington State Bar Association Intellectual Property Section, 2006
  • "Copyright  Basics, Intellectual Property for Non-Specialists," King County Bar Association, 2000-2006
  • "Legal Issues for Writers: Copyright," Washington Lawyers for the Arts, 2006
  • "The Technology Wild Card - How Technology Integration Can Make or Break Post-Merger Success," The Deal (NYC), 2005
  • "Legal Issues for Website Designers," Washington Lawyers for the Arts, 2005; Raincoast Computer Conference, 2005
  • "Recent Developments in the Protection and Use of Databases," 20th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference, American Bar Association, 2005
  • "Databases - To License or Not to License," Licensing Essentials for Business and Technology Lawyers, Washington State Bar Association Business Law and Intellectual Property Sections, 2004
  • "Register Your Work - Nuts and Bolts of Copyright Registration and Enforcement," Washington Lawyers for the Arts, 2004
  • "Overview of Export Controls and Technology Export Issues, Advanced IP Licensing Transactions," Law Seminars International, 2004
  • "Applying Copyright Rules In Light Of New Legal Developments (Including DMCA):  Software, Digital Media, Internet & Related Issues, Alaska Bar Association Conference on Copying Intellectual Property for Business, School, Art or Home Use: Practical Advice for the 21st Century," 2003
  • "Electronic Transactions and UETA - Traps for the Unwary," Computer Law Conference, Law Seminars International, 2002
  • "Electronic Commerce Law Update, Business Law Section Mid-Year Meeting/Conference," Washington State Bar Association, 2002
  • "Copyright and Trade Secret Issues in Intellectual Property Audits, Intellectual Property Valuation and Audits Conference," Seattle University IP Law Society, 2002
  • "Privacy Law Litigation Developments, Responding to Privacy Laws," LSI, 2001
  • "Emerging Issues from the Internet," Washington State Ethics and Election Conference, 1999
  • "Intellectual Property Litigation, Computer Law Conference, LSI, 1998 (with Kirk Dublin)
  • "Entangled in the World Wide Web: Legal Liability in Cyberspace, Intellectual Property and Internet Law," Alaska Bar Association Conference, 1998
Academic, Business and Non–Profit Presentations
  • IP Issues for Writers, 2009, 2010
  • IP Issues for Filmmakers, 2009
  • Legal Issues for Visual Artists, 2009
  • Identifying and Resolving Problems in Acquiring Technology Companies and Assets, 2009
  • IP Licensing Toolkit, 2009
  • Recent Developments in Website Liability, 2008
  • Open Source Software Developments, 2008
  • IP: The Basics and Beyond, 2008
  • Recent Copyright Law Developments, 2007
  • In re Seagate – Recent Changes to the Federal Circuit’s Treatment of Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product in Patent Infringement Litigation, 2007
  • University Technology Transfer and Related Government Research Funding Issues, 2007
  • IP Issues for Emerging Businesses, 2007
  • An Overview of IP Issues Relating to Standards Setting Organizations, 2007
  • Copyright Issues and Overview, 2005, 2006
  • Architecture and Engineering in the Digital Age, 2006
  • Intellectual Property Due Diligence Issues, 2006
  • Employee Invention Agreement Requirements, 2006
  • Attorney-Client Privilege Issues, 2006, 2007
  • Legal Issues for Journalists, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 
  • Trade Secret Issues Overview, 2000, 2003, 2004
  • Assessing Natural Resource Damages in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Litigation, 2004
  • Intellectual Property Litigation, 1999, 2002
  • Privacy and Encryption Legal Issues in Computer Programming, 2002
  • Copyright Basics for Authors and Illustrators, 2002
  • Electronic Contracting and Software Licensing Issues, 2001
  • Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act, 1999
  • Negotiating Software Development Agreements, 1999
  • Exporting Software, 1998
  • Digital Works and Copyright, 1998
  • Natural Resources Law, 1994, 1996

Court Admissions
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska

Bar Admissions
  • Bar of Alaska
  • Bar of Washington
Education
  • J.D., Harvard Law School (1988) cum laude, Editor Harvard Environmental Law Review, Legal Methods Instructor and Program Coordinator
  • B.A., Hampshire College (1977)
Additional Information
Publications
  • "How Using Open-Source Software Can Affect Your Company's Value," (CIO Magazine, Jan. 2010).
  • "Cloud Computing:  Emerging Legal Issue, Data Flows, and the Mobile User," Landslide (American Bar Association, Nov. 2009).
  • "Open Source Software" section in Annual Review of Intellectual Property Law Developments - 2006-2008 (American Bar Association 2009).
  • Contributions to "Anti-Circumvention" and "Copyright Infringement" sections in in Annual Review of Intellectual Property Law Developments - 2009   (American Bar Association 2010).
  • "User-generated videos online raise vexing issues," The National Law Journal, October 13, 2008.
  • "Model Railroad Case Supports Enforceability of Open Source Software Licenses and Provides Guidance for Licensors," K&L Gates Intellectual Property Alert, 2008; reprinted in World Intellectual Property Report (BNA), October 2008 (with co-authors).
  • "U.S. Supreme Court's Decision Limits Patent Owners from Claiming Infringement by Downstream Customers," K&L Gates Intellectual Property Alert, 2008; reprinted in World Intellectual Property Report (BNA), July 2008.
  • "U.S. District Court Rules Online Music Service Providers Not Required To Pay Public Performance Royalties," K&L Gates Intellectual Property Alert, 2007 (with co-authors)
  • "Copyright Basics," King County Bar Association, 2006
  • "Selling the Business?  Prepare for 200 Questions (Acquisitions Due Diligence)," Puget Sound Business Journal, 2006 (with co-author)
  • "Developments in the Law Concerning Online Trademark Uses and Contextual Advertising," report to the American Bar Association Section on Intellectual Property Law, 2006 and 2007 (with co-authors)
  • "Liability for File Sharing Software," Computer Law Review International, 2005
  • "U.S. Supreme Court Rules Companies Promoting Infringing Uses Of A Product Or Service As Principal Or Primary Use Are Liable For Copyright Infringement," analysis of June 27, 2005 Grokster decision, Preston Gates E-Alert, 2005
  • "Judgments," in Business and Commercial Litigation in the Federal Courts, Thomson/West 2005, and annual Updates (through 2009), (with F. Tausend and D. Binney)
  • "Avoiding Legal Landmines in Software Development and Licensing," ExecBlueprints, Books24x7, 2005
  • "Privacy - Adjusting to Changes in Technology," ExecBlueprints, Books 24x7, 2005
  • "Developments in the Law Concerning Databases," report to the American Bar Association Section on Intellectual Property Law,  2003-2004
  • "Technology Law in Action,"  Inside The Minds: The Laws Behind Technology - Leading Lawyers on the Legal Aspects of Patents, Software Licensing, Telecommunications, & More, 2004
  • "Developments in the Law Concerning Computer Programs," report to the American Bar Association Section on Intellectual Property Law, 2001-2003
  • Copyright chapter in Intellectual Property for Non-Specialists Deskbook, King County Bar Association, 2003
  • "Enforceability of Foreign Court Decisions - Yahoo! v. La Ligue Contre Le Racisme," Computer Law Review International, 2002
  • "Software and Data Licensing," in Internet Law for the Business Lawyer, American Bar Association, 2001 (with D. Daggett and M. Williamson)
  • "Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law in Review - Oil and Gas Exploration and Production - Legislative, Judicial and Administrative Developments in Alaska," American Bar Association, 1993-1998
  • "Economic Methodologies for Valuing Natural Resource Damages," in Natural Resource Damages, Government Institutes, 1993


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