Ms. Ballack has extensive experience in a wide variety of complex technology and intellectual property alliances and transactions. Representative matters include: licensing arrangements; research and development collaborations; joint ventures; strategic alliances and corporate partnering transactions; intellectual property acquisitions and divestitures; manufacture and supply arrangements; distribution and reseller arrangements; co‑marketing alliances; consulting and professional services agreements; and other arrangements involving the commercial exploitation of technology and intellectual property. Ms. Ballack’s practice also includes providing intellectual property assistance in connection with private equity, M&A and other corporate transactions. Ms. Ballack is frequently engaged as a guest speaker on topics relating to technology and intellectual property transactions.

Experience

• Yahoo! in connection with a variety of Yahoo’s strategic technology and intellectual property collaborations, arrangements, acquisitions and divestitures and all technology and intellectual property aspects of over 30 of Yahoo’s M&A deals. Most recently, Ms. Ballack served as Yahoo’s lead intellectual property counsel on Yahoo’s highly publicized reverse spin-off of its operating business, auction sale of that business, and ~ $4.48 billion acquisition of that business by Verizon, as well as Yahoo’s transfer of approximately 4,000 patent assets to a new Yahoo subsidiary, Excalibur, for monetization purposes.
• Technology and intellectual property alliances, transactions, acquisitions and divestitures on behalf of Advanced Technology Investment Company, Applied Materials, ArthroCare, Cardinal Health, Getty Images, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Illumina, Intel, Maxim Integrated, Micron Technology, Panasonic, PDL Biopharma, Pioneer Hi-Bred International (a DuPont company), Texas Instruments, The Progeria Research Foundation, Trimble Navigation, United Way, Vonage, and Wind River Systems.
• Research and development collaborations involving technology companies, universities (such as California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Texas A&M and University of California), and research institutions (such as National Institutes of Health).

Ms. Ballack is actively involved with the Firm’s diversity and pro bono efforts. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Progeria Research Foundation.

Ms. Ballack is widely recognized in the industry. Among her recent accolades, she was named among “The World’s Leading IP Strategists 2017-2019” by IAM Strategy 300 and among the “Top 250 Women in IP 2017” by Managing Intellectual Property. The Recorder named Ms. Ballack a “Trusted Advisor” for technology transactions in 2016 and 2017. She was named by The Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of Silicon Valley’s 2015 Women of Influence. Ms. Ballack was named to the Daily Journal’s 2017 list of “Top 100 Lawyers in California”. She was also named to the Daily Journal’s 2014 - 2016 lists of Top Women Lawyers in California, with the publication noting “When Weil represents major technology giants in high-value corporate transactions, the firm calls on Ballack to handle the complex intellectual property aspects of the deals.” She has also been included in The Recorder’s 2013, 2015 – 2017 lists of Women Leaders in Technology Law, which recognizes women lawyers who have demonstrated leadership and expertise in solving the most pressing legal concerns in the technology sector. She has been ranked by Chambers USA 2010-2018 as a leader in California in the field of IT & IT Outsourcing. Sources in Chambers USA 2015 describe Ms. Ballack as having the ability to “cut through and find areas of compromise” in major M&A deals and as being “a superb drafter and negotiator”. She has been recognized by The Legal 500 US 2010-2018 in the field of Intellectual Property, Patent Licensing, and has also been named an “IP Star” by Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars 2013-2018. Ms. Ballack has also been named to the 2017 and 2018 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers lists. In addition, Ms. Ballack is included in IAM Licensing 250’s “World’s Leading Patent & Technology Licensing Lawyers” and IAM Patent 1000’s “World’s Leading Patent Practitioners.”