Mullen never worked on a patent case and had only been at Keker & Van Nest LLP for eight months when he found himself making oral argument in one of the biggest intellectual property cases of all time. Mullen squared off against heavy hitting litigator David Boies, chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP in Oracle America Inc. v. Google Inc. and received praise from Northern District Judge William Alsup.
"You succinctly said it. That was an excellent presentation," Alsup said at the time.
Google ultimately prevailed and Mullen has been representing clients in patent cases ever since.
"They're innovating at such a rapid pace that you always feel you're doing something of interest and something you can relate to," he said.
Mullen said the double track of the trial, with proceedings before the jury and arguments in front of Alsup about what the jury would hear, was fascinating and his role demonstrated the firm's trust in its young attorneys.
"I often tell that story to candidates in an interview," he said. "I think it's a great selling point for recruits."
About Reid Mullen
His comfort and creativity in uncharted territory has generated highly influential victories for clients ranging from leading technology companies to a wrongfully-convicted client who not only won his freedom, but was ruled to be entitled to significant compensation from the state after his release based on unusually strong evidence of innocence.
Eight months after joining KVN, Reid became the firm’s only associate assigned to Oracle America v. Google, the "world series of IP cases." In this epic battle between two of Silicon Valley’s most respected and powerful companies, Oracle sought nearly $6 billion in damages and an injunction forcing Google to change the open-source Android operating system, which powers more than one billion smartphones and tablet computers around the world. Reid helped develop and present the key case themes and analogies to those unfamiliar with the case's technology. Eventually, Judge Alsup dismissed the bulk of Oracle’s copyright claims and the jury rendered a unanimous verdict rejecting all of Oracle’s patent claims.
Shortly after the Oracle v. Google trial, Reid took on a pro bono habeas case for Ronald Ross. Mr. Ross was wrongfully convicted of premeditated attempted murder in connection with a 2006 shooting in West Oakland. He had languished in prison for more than six years of his 25-years-to-life sentence. Reid played an integral role in Mr. Ross’s exoneration. He earned a community’s trust to identify and gain access to new witnesses, and inspired witnesses who testified at Mr. Ross’s original trial to recant their false testimony and tell the truth. At the habeas hearings, Reid conducted a direct examination and helped prepare several witnesses. Reid also wrote a series of briefs, and spent many hours presenting evidence of Mr. Ross’s innocence to the DA’s office, which contributed to Mr. Ross' eventual release in February 2012. Afterwards, Reid secured an almost unprecedented victory before the Victim’s Compensation & Government Claims Board, which ordered that Mr. Ross was entitled to significant compensation for his wrongful conviction and incarceration.
In addition to these cases, Reid has been a part of several other victorious teams in high-stakes patent cases for Google, and helped to successfully defend Netflix and its senior executives in a high-profile defamation and blacklisting suit. Reid is currently representing Google in Skyhook Wireless, Inc. v. Google Inc., which is scheduled for trial in Massachusetts federal court later this year.