Associate General Counsel

Join the leader in entertainment innovation and help us design the future. At Dolby, science meets art, and high tech means more than computer code. As a member of the Dolby team, you’ll see and hear the results of your work everywhere, from movie theaters to smartphones. We continue to revolutionize how people create, deliver, and enjoy entertainment worldwide. To do that, we need the absolute best talent. We’re big enough to give you all the resources you need, and small enough so you can make a real difference and earn recognition for your work. We offer a collegial culture, challenging projects, and excellent compensation and benefits, not to mention a Flex Work approach that is truly flexible to support where, when, and how you do your best work.

Via Licensing Alliance is an independently managed subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc., a company with more than 50 years of experience in innovation and technology licensing. Via has set the standard for enabling innovation with collaborative licensing solutions. The Via team leverages decades of innovation heritage and industry best practices to continually develop creative new intellectual property licensing approaches for the market. For more information about Via, please visit https://www.via-la.com/.

The Associate General Counsel role reports to the General Counsel of Via LA and is based in San Francisco, California. This senior level position will spend a significant portion of their time overseeing patent enforcement in various jurisdictions around the world. This is a uniquely diverse, cross-functional, IP focused position that will require the candidate to be a fast learner, a problem solver and results-driven individual. The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting all business functions of Via and day-to-day company legal needs. Applicant must be capable of multi-tasking and managing a diverse set of projects and dispute resolutions in coordination with internal and external stakeholders. In addition, the applicant will interact with Via LA’s business partners, including key patent licensing program licensors and licensees, to drive successful program outcomes. A successful candidate will also regularly partner with Via LA’s senior leaders across the company to effectively provide intellectual property deliverables and advice for sophisticated transactions and business deals. The position requires a deep understanding of intellectual property law and strong litigation background.

Key Responsibilities :

• Manage litigation and oversee patent enforcement in various jurisdictions around the world.
• Support Via LA in licensee audits and contract compliance, resolve audit disputes, including pre-litigation dispute resolution efforts, and other breach-of-contract matters.
• Draft, review and negotiate non-disclosure agreements, patent licensing agreements, settlement agreements, vendor contracts and other general business contracts.
• Work with Via LA’s global licensing team to develop program operational guidelines and agreement templates and develop and define program criteria and processes.
• Assist in the handling of other legal and corporate matters related to Via LA’s non-licensing businesses as they arise, ranging from corporate governance and commercial disputes. Emphasis on providing practical solutions to enable Via LA’s business and operational needs.
• Manage pending commercial and IP enforcement disputes, including both domestic and foreign pre-litigation, litigation, patent proceeding and arbitration. Work closely with outside counsel in formulating strategy, drafting pleadings, briefs, and managing discovery.
• Counsel management in connection with complex transactional matters associated with IP licensing and collaboration agreements, licensing strategies and protection of IP rights.
Support Via LA’s general legal needs across all functions.

Qualifications and Skills :

• Juris Doctor degree from top-tier law school.
• A minimum of 4 years legal experience at a top-tier law firm and/or in-house environment with hands-on experience in litigation, IP litigation, dispute resolution, and/or IP transactions. Experience asserting and licensing patents strongly desirable.
• Experience working with teams and business partners distributed worldwide and staying on top of global legal issues.
• Ability to coordinate as necessary with company’s finance, corporate, tax, privacy, and other subject matter experts.
• Excellent negotiation skills and problem-solving instincts.
• Self-initiative and ability to work with minimum of direction under time pressure.
• Strong litigation background and experience.
• Preferred experience in standard bodies, standard-essential patents, and licensing programs and/or patent pools.
Preferred management of worldwide patent or licensing strategies.

The San Francisco/Bay Area base salary range for this full-time position is $225,000 to $275,000, which can vary if outside this location, plus bonus, benefits, and some roles may also include equity. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, competencies, experience, market demands, internal parity, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range and perks and benefits for your location during the hiring process.

Dolby will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of San Francisco Police Code, Article 49, and Administrative Code, Article 12

Equal Employment Opportunity:
Dolby is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Our success depends on the combined skills and talents of all our employees. We are committed to making employment decisions without regard to race, religious creed, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, marital status, family status, medical condition, disability, military service, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions or any other classification protected by federal, state, and local laws and ordinances.