Qualcomm GC on what in-house needs: ‘Show me the value, not just higher bills’

The fast-growing chip maker needs persistent and sophisticated external counsel to bat opponents who just keep coming, general counsel Ann Chaplin tells Tom Phillips in an exclusive interview. 

With more than 160,000 granted patents and pending patent applications combined behind a huge licensing programme, Qualcomm’s general counsel and corporate secretary Ann Chaplin is unsurprisingly adamant that IP is “wildly important” to the company.

In an exclusive interview with WIPR, Chaplin reveals what the semiconductor and computer hardware manufacturer wants from its external legal teams.

Aside from deep technical expertise, preferred counsel must work well with other external firms, Chaplin tells WIPR group editor Tom Phillips.

Litigation funding has dramatically changed the aggressiveness of litigants, who “keep coming at us” like the game “whack-a-mole”, she explains.

“We need to be very persistent and we need our outside counsel to be sophisticated in terms of understanding the multi-pronged approaches our opponents often take,” says Chaplin.

She also has a strong message on billing rate increases—a must-see for anyone who wants to keep their multinational corporate clients onside.

And the former partner at Fish & Richardson explains why she recommends that attorneys try working in-house to get a better perspective on all aspects of brand enforcement and litigation.