Biography
Over the course of his 25 years of serving as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of California, Judge Brazil acquired considerable experience with intellectual property litigation, especially in patent, trade secret, and trademark matters. Because of the high volume of IP cases in the Northern District and that court’s aggressive use of magistrate judges, Judge Brazil has assumed responsibility for case management, discovery (conventional and ESI), settlement, or trial in a wide range of IP cases.
Judge Brazil’s experience has been especially concentrated in IP disputes involving software and hardware in advanced electronics applications, e.g., patent infringement claims related to:
- Systems for organizing and searching large data bases using variable sequences of criteria
- Systems for managing communication between large data pools and customized end user applications
- Systems enabling consumers to search large and diverse product inventories by sequentially narrowing criteria
- Systems for testing whether customer-tailored versions of generic software function properly in specialized environments
- Systems for website navigation
- Systems to protect the privacy and security of electronic data storage and communication, as well as to conduct minimally invasive forensic searches of electronically stored data
- Means for assuring integrity of forensic duplication and analysis of electronically stored data
- Means for effective and secure communication between remote servers and on-site data processors
- Live streaming of digitalized audio/video transmissions
- Protocols for effective wireless communication by multiple users in closed environment as well as between audio sources and receivers
- Video games
- Robotics
Judge Brazil has also mediated intellectual property cases in a wide range of other arenas:
- High-tech trade secrets
- Business process and customer list trade secrets
- Trade dress of consumer products
- Trademarks in a wide range of products and service providers (commercial, home, jewelry and other accessories, etc.) including mediation of worldwide trademark dispute between European accounting firm and Asian bank
- Cutting edge medical devices, including implantable defibrillators, balloon/catheter technology for addressing heart disease or for other surgical applications, laser surgery technology, and competing types of stents
- Photo-copying and laser technology
- Ionic air purifiers
- Recreational equipment, e.g., trampolines and boomerangs
- Devices used to store and manage use of cable or high-tension wire in construction projects
- Copyright issues regarding unauthorized distribution of core IP source code
Discovery Referee/Trial Master
Judge Brazil is especially well qualified to serve as a discovery referee or trial master in intellectual property cases. He has developed a nationally recognized expertise in sensitive, cutting edge issues arising out of invocations or alleged waivers of attorney-client privilege or work product protection. His experience as a special master for pretrial purposes or a discovery referee (conventional or ESI) includes cases involving:
- Patent
- Trademark
- Unfair competition
Representative Published Opinions
- Sharper Image Corp. v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 621 (2004)
- Jumpsport, Inc. v. Jumpking, Inc., 213 F.R.D. 329 (2003)
- Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. v. General Scanning, Inc., 175 F.R.D. 539 (1997)
- Laser Industries, Ltd. v. Reliant Technologies, Inc., 167 F.R.D. 417 (1996)
- Advanced Cardio Vascular Systems, Inc. v. C.R. Bard, Inc., 144 F.R.D. 372 (1992)
- Hewlett Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb, Inc., 116 F.R.D. 533 (1987)
Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS.
- Recognized as a Top California Neutral "Rising Star," Daily Journal, 2012
- Recipient of Prestigious D’Alemberte-Raven Award from the Dispute Resolution Section of the ABA, 2009
- The Mediation Society of Northern California: Annual Award for “Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Alternative Dispute Resolution,” 2007
- California Dispute Resolution Council: Donald Weckstein Award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Profession of ADR Neutrals,” 2007
- American College of Civil Trial Mediators (national association headquartered in Florida): award for “Outstanding Achievement in the Advancement of Alternative Dispute Resolution,” 2005
- "Using Mind Over Matter," ADR Profile, Daily Journal, September 14, 2012
- D'Alemberte-Raven Award, American Bar Association Secton of Dispute Resolution, 2009
- Member, American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution
- Law Professor (“Professor from Practice”), Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, full-time 2009-2011; part-time 2011-2014
- United States Magistrate Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of California, June 1984-October 2009
- Professor of Law, Hastings College of the Law, University of California, San Francisco, California, Courses: Civil Procedure and Civil Rights, 1980-1984
- Associate Professor of Law, University of Missouri, Columbia, Federal Courts, Civil Procedure, Professional Responsibility, 1978-1980
- Farella, Braun & Martel, Litigation Associate, San Francisco, California, 1975-1977
- J.D., University of California, Berkeley Law (formerly Boalt Hall School of Law), Order of the Coif, 1975
- Ph.D. in American Political and Cultural History, Modern European and American Intellectual History, Harvard University, 1975
- M.A. in American History, Harvard University, Woodrow Wilson Fellow, 1967
- B.A., Stanford University, Graduated with Great Distinction, Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award, Phi Beta Kappa, 1966
Counsel Comments
- "Thank you [Judge Brazil] for your excellent work in getting us across the finish line yesterday. We sincerely appreciate all of your efforts getting us to a successful resolution for our clients. Your contributions and efforts were critical to us breaking the previous logjam that we found ourselves in."
-Energy Technology Litigation Partner - “Few people have the range of vision, the attention to detail, the energy for new tasks, the depth of experience, or the passion for the enterprise of dispute resolution that Wayne Brazil so generously shares with the world.”
– Former Chair of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution - “[Judge Brazil] add[s] the depth and luster of unparalleled experience, and tremendous insight into how the law can and should work to illuminate and resolve disputes….”
– Named Partner at Premier Firm - “I have observed with great pleasure over the years [Judge Brazil’s] tireless work on the bench, the unique and powerful commitment [he] gave to the bench on the record, off the record at settlement conferences, and the zest that [he] breathed into the Northern District ADR program.”
– Partner at Regional Firm - “[Judge Brazil’s] intellectual and analytical thinking, which [he] shared throughout the process, helped us to validate what we saw as the strengths and weaknesses of our case and move us towards settlement. I honestly believe that without [Judge Brazil’s] assistance, the case would not have settled.”
- “I have the utmost respect for [Judge Brazil’s] skills as a mediator as well as [his] obvious great intellect. [He] was prepared coming into the mediation and while it went on, did a superb job of focusing my side in the right places. The rapport of mutual respect [he] created with both [parties] contributed greatly to being able to get this matter resolved… [His] dogged pursuit of a settlement is one of the major things that allowed us to get over the finish… I really hope I have another opportunity very soon to have [Judge Brazil] involved in another matter.”
- “I am so appreciative for the gift of the mediation…Two decades of tension dissolved as [Judge Brazil] first touched them and then let them find their way. For the first time everyone became single-mindedly focused on the common purpose. I could not have imagined that what I had worked toward for nearly 3 years would come together in a morning. I am truly grateful.”
- “Thank[s] for all of your help in getting me through one of the most difficult years of my life. You have restored my faith in justice.”
- "As far as mediators go, on a scale of one to ten, [Judge Brazil] is an eleven."
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