Education
Law School: Chicago-Kent College of Law, Centennial Merit Scholar
Graduate School: George Washington University Law School, LL.M. in IP, highest honors
College: Illinois Institute of Technology, magna cum laude
Major Cases
Thane Bauz has practiced IP law for more than 23 years. His experience ranges from lead trial counsel in patent cases to testifying at trial as a patent law expert. Bauz has been lead litigation counsel for both large and small technology companies, ranging from market caps of $50 billion to $25 million.
Bauz was recently retained as lead trial counsel for Sony Mobile Communications at the news worthy Apple v. Samsung trial. He also has been trial counsel in both the International Trade Commission and in U.S. District Courts. Bauz has litigated patents concerning a wide range of technology, including electronic imaging, digital and interactive content delivery, cellular network architectures, as well as technologies relating to genomics. He has been active in negotiating license agreements, including some that were 10 to 50 percent less than what his client’s competitors paid.
Bauz was recently retained to guide the rebranding effort of a multibillion-dollar manufacturer of embedded power and networking products. He has overseen the analysis of patent portfolios for purchase, sale, assertion and licensing. Bauz is a registered patent attorney and has been retained for post-grant patent review proceedings.
Professional Background
Bauz served for four years as the managing partner of the San Diego office of Perkins Coie. Assisted by four founding partners, he managed the growth of the office to approximately 30 attorneys having a diverse range of legal practices. Upon graduating magna cum laude from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1986, he was hired by The Boeing Company as an electrical project design engineer. He was part of a small engineering team that designed avionics that are still in operation today. He was a Centennial Merit Scholar at Chicago-Kent College of Law and graduated from there in 1991. After furthering his legal education at George Washington University Law School, he also studied at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany, a world renowned IP institute. He also was a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Wilson. A. Cowen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Professional Affiliations
For the past three years, Bauz served as a member of the IP advisory board of the George Washington University Law School and will be an adjunct law professor in 2015. In 2013, international trade organizations invited him to speak on IP topics worldwide, including Taiwan and Japan.
Personal Affiliations
Bauz and his wife Maria have donated their time to preserve their community in La Jolla Shores, including hundreds of hours of pro bono service. He has also advised the California Innocence Project on a pro bono basis. For the past seven years, Bauz and his wife volunteered time to ACC-sponsored charity events. The Red Cross has acknowledged Bauz and Maria for their support.
Personal Background
Bauz was born and raised in a small town in Illinois called Hinsdale, located outside of Chicago. He and Maria have been married for 17 years and live in a house that they have been renovating in La Jolla since 1999. They are both active in the community assisting elderly and various charitable organizations.