William E. Hunter

About Bill

Bill Hunter is a principal in the Southern California office of Fish & Richardson P.C., where he has served as the office’s patent group leader for the last 10 years.

Mr. Hunter is a leading patent attorney whose practice is focused on patent prosecution, strategy and analysis, patent opinions, product clearance, due diligence investigations (in support of acquisitions and mergers) and post-grant proceedings. He also provides strategic advice and direction to clients in other areas of intellectual property (IP) law, including trademark, copyright and trade secret law.

Mr. Hunter has significant experience counseling individuals, universities and research institutes, start-up, technology and manufacturing companies in the development and management of U.S. and international patent portfolios across a wide range of technologies.

During his 20 years of practice, Mr. Hunter has leveraged his degree in computer science to work extensively in the areas of computer and electrical engineering, as well as related fields.

Mr. Hunter’s patent drafting and supervision experience includes technologies such as: computer aided design and manufacturing (CAD & CAM) software, three-dimensional (3D) printing, blockchain (distributed ledgers), computer networking, artificial intelligence (machine learning), digital systems and internet-related technologies; content delivery, encryption and video on demand (VOD) systems; image processing and manipulation; data search, management and visualization; wireless communication and mobile devices and systems, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies; radio frequency identification (RFID) 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, RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) and NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems; laser-based systems, mechanical devices and product marking technologies.

Mr. Hunter is a frequent presenter on patent prosecution matters and also volunteers his legal insight to the betterment of the community. 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 both companies and academia.

He resides in San Diego, but his global practice takes him around the world working with clients from startup to Fortune 500 companies.

• “International Patent Portfolio: When, Where and How to Protect Inventions Overseas While Avoiding Prosecution Pitfalls,” Association of Corporate Patent Counsel (ACPC) Winter Meeting (January 25, 2022)
• “Solar Panels, Ear Plugs, and Dog Walkers…Oh my! Trademarks & Patents in Today’s Competitive Business Universe,” ACC – San Diego Chapter (December 2018)
• “Positioning your Intellectual Property as a Strategic and Important Business Asset,” Fish CLE Event (San Diego –  January 2018)
• “Building Your IP to Protect Your Business and Defending Your Business from IP Threats,” ACC – San Diego Chapter (December 2017)

Media Mentions

• Quoted, “Plot Your Patent Steps Carefully,” San Diego Business Journal (May 2017)