SAN DIEGO (February 4) – Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton announced today that it has named Bill Shaffer managing partner of the firm’s San Diego office. Mr. Shaffer, who is a member of Kilpatrick Townsend’s Executive Committee and has been with the firm for more than 22 years, succeeds Ken Jenkins.

“I look forward to leading our talented collection of experienced intellectual property and corporate strategists located in one of the most exciting technology, medical and scientific communities in the world,” said Bill Shaffer, San Diego Office Managing Partner. “As San Diego continues to grow, we look forward to expanding and continuing to provide our clients with exceptional service.”

Before moving to San Diego in 2013, Mr. Shaffer also served as managing partner of Kilpatrick Townsend’s Silicon Valley office. He also served as Co-Managing Partner of predecessor firm Townsend and Townsend and Crew for six years.

Mr. Shaffer focuses his practice on patent prosecution and counseling, patent portfolio building/management, patent analysis and post-grant patent procedures, including reexamination and reissue proceedings. He has been the lead or co-lead attorney for a dozen reexaminations, including both inter partes and ex parte matters, many of which involved patents in litigation, representing both patent owners and challengers.

Mr. Shaffer has provided in depth analysis of individual patents and patent portfolios in connection with venture capital investments and corporate acquisitions and advised prominent venture capital backed start-ups. Specific technologies Mr. Shaffer has experience with include, among others, computer architecture, software- and Internet-based technologies, semiconductor processing, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, chip-level packaging and hard disk drives.

Mr. Shaffer was recognized as a Northern California "Super Lawyer" in the area of Intellectual Property by Super Lawyers magazine in 2014 and the three years immediately preceding. He was recommended by Legal 500 US in the area of Patent Prosecution in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Mr. Shaffer was named a 2013 and 2014 "IP Star" by Managing Intellectual Property magazine. He was recognized as a top patent practitioner in 2013 and 2014 by IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners. Mr. Shaffer was named by Legal Media Group in its 2013 Guide to the World's Leading Patent Practitioners. He was listed as "Best of the Bar" in 2014 by the San Diego Business Journal.

Mr. Shaffer received his J.D. from Southern Methodist University School of Law and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Vanderbilt University.

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