The Rise of Stiletto Networks – Top 5 Women’s Power Circles

Based in: Silicon Valley Co-founders: Anirma Gupta, Deputy General Counsel, Intuit Noreen Krall, Chief Litigation Counsel, Apple Michelle Lee, Director of the Silicon Valley United States Patent and Trademark Office Julie Mar-Spinola, VP Legal, Alta Devices Mona Sabet, VP, Business Development, Cadence Design Systems Emily Ward, Deputy General Counsel, Technology and Patents, eBay Mallun Yen, Executive […]
The Clients Are Real, the Pitches Are Just for Practice


In-house counsel get pitched all the time, but they often see the same faces. On Thursday, they saw some new ones, thanks to an event aimed at giving female associates and junior partners a chance to practice winning business. “We see a lot of pitches, but—no surprise given the few women in senior leadership roles in […]
Making a Winning Pitch


ChIPs is pleased to announce its inaugural “Making a Winning Pitch” event. We are providing a group of sponsor law firms an opportunity to participate in a mock pitch session before a panel of senior in-house decision makers. This will be an invaluable forum for high-potential associates and junior partners to gain experience in both creating and presenting pitches to in-house clients and prospects.
Women’s work-Three steps closer to gender equality


The Recorder invited Mallun Yen, the executive vice president of RPX and the former head of global IP at Cisco, to deliver the keynote address at a Sept. 25 reception honoring The Recorder’s 50 Women Leaders in Tech Law. Below is a condensed version of her talk. Many of you know that I am a […]
ChIPs featured in Stiletto Network


Congratulations to Pamela Ryckman, celebrated author and journalist, on the May 16, 2013 launch of her book, Stiletto Network: Inside the Women’s Power Circles That Are Changing the Face of Business. We are proud that Pamela featured ChIPs as an example of a group of strong, intelligent women who use their influence to make a […]
Long-time Googler will head Silicon Valley patent office


Michelle Lee, a former Google attorney who was one of the first corporate lawyers to speak out about the harmful effects of patent trolls, will be the director of a new ‘satellite office’ of the US Patent and Trademark Office. The move was announced Friday afternoon at a conference about software patents, sponsored by Santa […]
Cisco’s Top Patent Lawyer in Rarified Air


Cisco Systems’ Mallun Yen
When Robert Barr decided to leave his post as Cisco Systems Inc.’s chief patent counsel, the company didn’t have to search for a successor. General Counsel Mark Chandler had just one candidate in mind: Mallun Yen. For the past three years, Yen has served as Cisco’s director of intellectual property.
“Mallun has three primary attributes that made her a very logical successor,” Chandler said. “She’s incredibly smart, tough as nails and a great team player.”
Yen, who recently returned from maternity leave, took the helm Monday as managing director of worldwide IP.
We are often asked about how we came up with the idea of ChIPs…



The idea of ChIPs was first “conceived” by co-founders Julie Mar-Spinola and Mallun Yen in 2005, when Mallun was promoted to the top patent counsel position at Cisco Systems. The Recorder wrote an article (Rarefied Air) about Mallun’s promotion and interviewed Julie (then of Atmel) and Michelle Lee (then of Google) to comment on why […]
She-roes: Women Strive to Promote Their Own in Silicon Valley IP Law


Never underestimate the power of visible trailblazers. They were sorely lacking when Anirma Gupta began as a patent attorney in 1993. “The firm I worked at had no intellectual property partners in the electrical/mechanical field,” says the deputy general counsel for litigation and IP at Intuit in Mountain View, Calif. “I had no female role models.” […]
‘Chipsters’ Lobby For More Women In Silicon Valley Legal Departments


We all know that women are underrepresented in the tech world. Turns out they are also sparse in tech companies’ legal departments. But that kind of gender heterogeny won’t be possible in the next generation, if a group of women who call themselves the Chipsters have their way. The Chipsters — the name is a […]