Mr. Bub-Joo Salvador Lee is a partner with Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP. Mr. Lee was formerly associated with Brobeck Phleger & Harrison (1991-94) and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, Los Angeles (1995-99), and was a partner of Lee & Xiao, Los Angeles (1999-2000). From March 2000 through 2002, Mr. Lee also served as General Counsel and Corporate Vice-President of a telecommunications software company based in Torrance, California.

Mr. Lee has over 10 years of experience in licensing and enforcement of intellectual property rights, related business litigation, and business and corporate planning, with an emphasis on representation of technology start-ups.

Mr. Lee has advised companies on protection and enforcement of trademark, trade secret, and patent rights, as well as unfair competition matters. Mr. Lee’s past engagements include representation of software companies (breach of contract litigation involving the development and deployment of a $1M software system), ring laser gyroscope manufacturers (patent and trade secrets litigation), apparel distributors (including trademark litigation on behalf of a major branded outerwear/sportswear supplier), medical device manufacturers (patent litigation on behalf of a supplier of non-invasive ophthalmic surgery devices), financial institutions (unfair competition and trade secret misappropriation counseling), hardware manufacturers (commercial litigation for goods sold), and oil companies (antitrust litigation). Mr. Lee has also worked on several shareholder class action and derivative litigation and similar complex corporate litigation on behalf of publicly traded companies.

Mr. Lee’s technology clients included, at various times, software development companies, communication gear manufacturers, and startup entities involved in broadband hardware and services, including a startup Internet set-top box supplier, key staff of a satellite-based broadband hardware manufacturer, and a fiber-optics cable joint venture based in PRC, among others. He has also advised non-technology clients on equipment lease, joint marketing arrangements, and corporate formation and governance matters, including buy-sell agreements.

Most recently, Mr. Lee helped a developer of carrier-grade communication software solutions raise US$40 Million in venture capital funding. Mr. Lee worked closely with the founding members and helped the company review and upgrade its management and corporate structures, and revamped its legal practices and procedures in preparation for funding. Mr. Lee also managed the due diligence and the contract negotiations, and closed the first round VC funding.

Following the investment, Mr. Lee served as the company’s General Counsel and its Corporate Vice-President, in legal and operational capacities. As the company’s chief legal officer, Mr. Lee was in charge of the company’s corporate and litigation matters. He negotiated and/or reviewed the company’s software and hardware solution licensing agreements (including all sales-related contracts as well as licenses relating to third party modules, codecs, frameworks, and technologies), outsourced development agreements, service/support agreements, technology transfer arrangements, and other intellectual property-related contracts. Mr. Lee also worked closely with engineering and product managers and conducted “first-line” review of potential new patent applications.

Mr. Lee held overall responsibility on legal matters relating to internal operations and corporate planning, including compensation, knowledge management, general HR, and source-code security, as a member of the source code security working groups. Among other things, Mr. Lee oversaw confidentiality agreements, employment contracts with key engineers and managers, and independent contractor agreements with outside developers and software testing engineers. Mr. Lee also helped the company revise its incentive stock option plan and worked with outside tax advisors. Additionally, Mr. Lee managed outside law firms (including foreign counsel in Beijing and Seoul, and 3 US-based firms) on international legal issues, patent prosecution, visas for key engineers, and other specialized matters.

Mr. Lee also served as a member of the company’s Executive Team, and interacted daily with the top management on both strategic and operational planning issues. He structured several joint development and marketing arrangements in US, China, and Korea, and set up joint venture entities in connection with the same. Mr. Lee helped to set up the company’s representative office in Beijing, and supported the operation of Singapore and Seoul offices.

Mr. Lee participated in the companywide restructuring initiative that led to the Board-level decision to relocate the company’s operations to Korea, and assisted in the execution of the same. He also helped to structure the initiative to outsource certain core development projects to offshore development centers in India, and documented the outsourcing/joint product development framework and agreement.

Between 1991 and 1999, Mr. Lee was associated with the Intellectual Property & Unfair Competition Litigation Group at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, and the Securities, Antitrust & Unfair Competition Litigation Group at Brobeck Phleger & Harrison.

Education

Harvard College, (A.B. cum laude in Government, 1988)
Cornell Law School (J.D., 1991)

Published Work and Presentations

Mr. Lee speaks frequently before trade groups and professional associations on topics related to intellectual property and business regulation, including the following:

• “The Evolving US Regulation of Data & Voice Telecommunications Convergence” (Speaker, 2006 SNU Center for Law & Technology Conference, Waikaloa, Hawaii)
• “Can Vanna Sell Television Sets? Commercial Misappropriation of Name and Likeness, Invasion of Privacy, and Related Torts in the Age of Electronic Commerce” (Panel Moderator, 1998 IAKL Conference, Santa Monica, California)
• “Business Dispute Resolution in U.S. Courts” (Speaker, 1998 Overseas Korean Business Networking Conference, Seoul, Korea)
• “Protection of Intellectual Property in U.S. and Korea” (Panel Moderator, 1997 IAKL Conference, Seattle, Washington)
• “When is a Product ‘Made in U.S.A.’?: New FTC Guidelines for Manufacturers in the Global Marketplace,” co-authored with K. O’Brien (Monograph, 1997)

Professional Memberships

Mr. Lee has been a member of the Korean-American Bar Association of Southern California (“KABA”). He served as KABA’s President for the 1999-2000 term and was a member of its Board of Governors (1997-98 term). Mr. Lee received the KABA Pro Bono Service Award in 1995 for his participation in the litigation team that assisted the victims of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. He is also an active supporter of the International Association of Korean Lawyers (“IAKL”) and co-chaired its Eighth Annual International Conference, held in Santa Monica, California (1998).