Christopher K. Ridder

416 Portofino Dr. #205 • San Carlos, CA 94070 • chris at cridder.com • (650) 646-3264-

 

EDUCATION

 

University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

Juris Doctor, May 2001

Honors and Activities: Certificate in Law and Technology • Berkeley Technology Law Journal: Submissions Editor, Info. Management Editor • boalt.org: Co-founder • Computer Policy Committee • Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic

 

University of California, Santa Cruz

B.A., Sociology, Minor, Journalism, June 1993

Honors and Activities:       Highest Honors in the major • Cowell College Honors • College Service Citation • Fish Rap Live! newspaper: Co-founder, Features Editor • Campus Governance newspaper: Founder, Editor • Cowell Senate: Chair • Campus Regulations Task Force

 

EXPERIENCE

 

Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA

Residential Fellow                                                                                                      June 2007 – July 2009

Non-Residential Fellow                                                                                              July 2009 – Present

Advise clients (including filmmakers and public advocacy organizations) regarding copyright, trademark, right of publicity, First Amendment and media law issues.  Litigate copyright and First Amendment cases, including Fairey v. Associated Press, Rowling v. RDR Books, Yoko Ono Lennon et al. v. Premise Media, Golan v. Holder.  Assisted in teaching “Legal Rules for the Metaverse,” a law school course concerned with applying legal principles to solving problems in virtual worlds.  Write articles and speak about emerging issues in open source licensing, privacy, computer security and Internet filtering.  Co-authored amicus brief in Jacobsen v. Katzer, a Federal Circuit case regarding the enforceability of open source and free software licenses.

 

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP,Palo Alto, CA

Associate                                                                                                                     October 2004 – May 2007

Litigated complex business disputes including patent litigation (digital microwave radio technology, semiconductors), technology-intensive contract cases, and disputes regarding corporate governance.  Participated in drafting and negotiating settlement agreements including patent licenses and joint development agreements.  Conducted intellectual property and litigation due diligence in mergers and acquisitions, including Apax Partners’s $7.75 billion acquisition of Thomson Learning, Veritas Software’s $13 billion business combination with Symantec Corp., Hellman & Friedman’s acquisition of Sheridan Healthcare.  Managed complex electronic discovery.   

 

Fish & Richardson, P.C., Redwood City, CA

Associate                                                                                                                     October 2002 – September 2004

Summer Associate                                                                                                       Summer 2000

Litigated complex patent, trademark and copyright matters, including significant software patent cases.  Created a retrocomputing laboratory for searching and evaluating prior art software.  Worked closely with expert witnesses.  Prepared pleadings and briefs, including infringement/invalidity contentions, expert reports and summary judgment motions.  Co-managed firmwide email list regarding open source legal issues.   

 

Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer, United States District Court, Los Angeles, CA

Law Clerk                                                                                                                   August 2001 – August 2002

Drafted orders in a diverse range of cases, including claim construction and summary judgment orders in patent cases relating to computer technology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.  Assisted with two large trials.  Participated in settlement conferences.

 

Professor Mark Lemley, Berkeley, CA

Research Assistant                                                                                                      January 2000 – October 2000

Designed and maintained two Internet web sites serving as casebook supplements for Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, and Software and Internet Law.  Edited portions of Software and Internet Law. 

 

Judge D. Lowell Jensen, United States District Court, Oakland, CA

Extern                                                                                                                         May 1999 – August 1999

Wrote bench memoranda and drafted orders in patent, trade dress, criminal, class action and civil rights cases. 

 

GLUE Publishing, LLC, Los Angeles, CA

Co-Founder, Editor                                                                                                     June 1997 – June 1998

Worked with Board of Directors on all aspects of planning, funding and launching a new weekly publication, GLUE L.A.  Edited news and features.  Coordinated Internet presence. 

 

Anchorage Press, Anchorage, AK

Editor-in-Chief                                                                                                            February 1995 – September 1996

Managed editorial staff of the largest weekly newspaper in Anchorage through a period of strong growth.  Planned all content for the paper in addition to writing articles.  AK Press Club Award: Investigative Reporting.

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Conditions Precedent in Copyright Law (in progress).

 

Evidentiary Implications of Potential Security Weaknesses in Forensic Software, International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics 1(3), 78-79, July-September 2009.

 

AT&T Corp. v. City of Portland, 15 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 397 (2000) (student comment).

 

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

 

Privacy and Location Data: Telecommunications Regulation and the Fair Information Practices Framework, Where 2.0 Conference (San Francisco, CA; June, 2005).

 

Evidentiary Implications of Potential Security Weaknesses in Forensic Software, Black Hat USA 2007 Briefings and Training (Las Vegas, NV; August, 2007); DEFCON 15 (Las Vegas, NV; August, 2007).

 

Copyright and Contract Issues Presented in Jacobsen v. Katzer, Open Source in Mobile Legal Workshop (San Francisco, CA; March, 2008).

 

Internet Content Regulation: The Role of Parliaments, Shaping the Information Society: The Role of Parliaments and Legislators, Global Centre for ICT in Parliament (Geneva, Switzerland; May, 2008).

 

The Role of Copyright Policy in Interpretation and Enforcement of Information Contracts and Technical Protection Measures, IP Scholars Conference, Stanford Law School (Stanford, CA; August, 2008).

 

Creative IP Licensing Strategies, Continuing Legal Education presentation to the Alaska Bar Association Intellectual Property Section (Anchorage, Alaska (telephonic); September, 2008).

 

Conditions Precedent in Copyright Law, Works in Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, Tulane University Law School (New Orleans, LA; October, 2008).

 

Copyright and its Limitations: Engines of Free Expression, Third World Congress of Public Law (Recife, Brazil; May, 2009).

 

BAR ADMISSIONS

 

All California State Courts (January 28, 2002).

 

United States District Court for the Central District of California (January 28, 2002).

 

United States District Court for the Northern District of California (March 19, 2003).

 

United Stated Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (December 17, 2007).