Leo Merken is the Director of Intellectual Property of Atmel Corporation, a publicly traded microcontroller company. He manages all IP-related matters to help the global group of Atmel companies achieve their business objectives. His responsibilities include patent portfolio development (strategy and implementation), third-party infringement risk evaluation, IP licensing and acquisitions/sales, IP diligence in M&A, substantive IP litigation matters, and all other IP-related matters faced by a technology company with global operations.
Before joining Atmel, Mr. Merken was a Partner in the New York and Southern California offices of Jones Day, a law firm with over 2,000 lawyers on five continents (including nearly 300 IP lawyers providing a full range of IP services to firm clients). He received a law degree from Columbia Law School, and started his legal career practicing patent law in the New York office of Pennie & Edmonds (as an associate, and then a partner).
He began his professional career as a Member of the Technical Staff on the Galileo Spacecraft Flight Operations Team at NASA-JPL, after obtaining a B.S. from Caltech and an M.S. from U.C. Berkeley.
