Kevin DeBré

Partner
Chair of the Intellectual Property & Technology Transactions Practice

Education

  • B.S. degree from the University of California, Davis
  • J.D. from Hastings College of the Law

Kevin D. DeBré is the Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property & Technology Transactions Practice group. Entrepreneurs and innovators rely on Kevin for guidance when using intellectual property to build their businesses. Kevin has been a “tech lawyer” since the mid-90’s when he was an attorney for a top Silicon Valley law firm and handled technology deals for “startups” such as Cisco systems, Broadcom and Geocities. Today, Kevin DeBré represents companies of all sizes – from pre-formation to middle market – and a broad spectrum of industries – from AI to VR.

Kevin is both a business lawyer and an intellectual property lawyer. As a business lawyer, he structures and negotiates technology commercialization deals and IP license agreements. These include strategic alliances, research and development collaborations, trademark licensing and brand merchandising agreements and manufacturing, distribution and marketing arrangements. Kevin DeBré has extensive experience in handling technology transfer agreements, having negotiated patent license deals with numerous universities across the country. As an intellectual property lawyer (and a registered patent attorney), Kevin designs and helps clients implement effective strategies for aligning intellectual property protection efforts with a company’s business objectives. And, having been the first call from clients that have experienced a data breach, Kevin helps companies navigate the ever-increasingly complex landscape of data security and privacy laws and regulations.

Kevin is a frequent guest lecturer in undergraduate and graduate level entrepreneurship courses at UCLA Anderson School of Management, UCLA School of Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, USC Marshall School of Business, and Pepperdine University. He has been quoted in numerous high-tech industry publications and has appeared on Bloomberg TV. Kevin is often a speaker at conferences on technology commercialization and intellectual property licensing and he has published several articles on IP licensing. Between 2011-2014, Kevin served as chairman of the Caltech entrepreneurs forum, an organization that promotes the growth and success of technology-based entrepreneurial ventures in Southern California.

Kevin DeBré has been recognized by his peers for excellence in his practice, having been honored with Best Lawyers' Lawyer of the Year 2023 for Southern California Technology Law, and selected for Southern California Super Lawyers multiple times, and is the founder and chair of the licensing interest group of the California State Bar intellectual property section.

  • Data security and privacy law
  • Executive employment agreements
  • Intellectual property protection strategy and patent monetization
  • Interactive entertainment and video game development and publishing agreements
  • Software licensing, software as a service (SaaS) agreements and service level agreements (SLA)
  • Joint ventures, strategic alliances, and corporate partnering
  • Mobile app terms of use agreements and privacy policies
  • Manufacturing, distribution, marketing and advertising agreements
  • Patent licensing and patent portfolio acquisitions
  • Research and development agreements
  • Startup company representation, including corporate formation, and seed and venture financing
  • Trademark licenses and merchandising agreements
  • University licensing and technology transfer
  • Website operations and legal compliance, terms of use, privacy policy, and contests and sweepstakes
  • Admitted to practice law in the state of California
  • Author of “Licensing of trade secrets and know-how,” a chapter of trade secret litigation and protection in California, an attorney’s practice book published by the state bar of California
  • Contributing author of “Joint ventures and strategic alliances,” a chapter of intellectual property in business transactions, an attorney’s practice book published by continuing education of the bar
  • An update author of “Exploiting trade secrets by licensing” and of “Form licensing agreements and provisions,” two chapters of trade secrets practice in California (Second Edition) published by Continuing Education of the Bar
  • IP and Talent Recruitment: What You Need to Know - UCSB CNSI Incubator
  • IP for Cleantech Startups - UCLA Anderson School of Management
  • Forming a Business Entity - USC Viterbi Startup Garage
  • Granting Equity - USC Viterbi Startup Garage
  • Raising Money for your Startup - USC Viterbi Startup Garage
  • Patents: Pros and Cons -USC Viterbi Startup Garage
  • Contract Basics - USC Viterbi Startup Garage
  • Entity Formation, Employees & Independent Contractors & Intellectual Property - USC Viterbi Startup Garage
  • An Entreprenuers's Guide to Intellectual Property - Preccelerator™ Program

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