Saul Ewing has significant experience advising clients in various sectors of the technology industry, including information technology and software; emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency; digital platforms and services; and specialized applications, including Clean Tech, Health Tech, FinTech and InsurTech. From startups to multinational companies, our clients include businesses involved in software development, web applications, mobile entertainment, digital marketplaces, medical device manufacturing, biotechnology, renewable energy development, and more.
To serve the diverse needs of our clients, our Technology team brings together attorneys with experience in corporate law, cybersecurity, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, technology contracting, labor and employment, real estate, and litigation. We provide tailored advice to help clients protect their assets, manage compliance, advance business goals, and balance innovation with sustainability.
Why Saul Ewing?
We focus on middle-market and growth-stage technology companies, as well as private equity and strategic investors active in the sector. Our team is particularly known for helping companies scale from early-stage growth through institutional financing, strategic partnerships and exit transactions, while managing regulatory and intellectual property risk. Clients turn to us for:
• Exit readiness and sell-side representation
• Complex SaaS and BPO contracting
• AI-related IP strategy
• Privacy and cybersecurity incident response
• Regulated FinTech and InsurTech compliance
We routinely provide advice in the following areas:
Artificial Intelligence
We advise companies developing and deploying artificial intelligence technologies on product commercialization, licensing, model training data governance, AI-specific contracting provisions, intellectual property protection, regulatory compliance and emerging AI risk frameworks.
Corporate
We regularly represent technology companies in liquidity events, including strategic sales, recapitalizations and management rollovers, and advise management teams on executive compensation and rollover equity structures. In addition, we handle:
- Business formation, commercial agreements and governance
- Mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and strategic alliances
- Financing: debt and equity capital raising transactions
- Investments by private equity funds, venture capital funds, wealth funds and strategic investors
Technology Contracting
- System procurement, software licensing, software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreements and cloud computing arrangements
- Business process outsourcing agreements
- Contracts relating to the development and licensing of AI systems and products
- Internet and e-commerce agreements
- Agreements for network, telecommunication, disaster recovery services and infrastructure
- Information technology services and consulting agreements
Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
- Regulatory matters and compliance with state, federal and international data privacy laws, such as GDPR
- Corporate data privacy and information governance programs
- Big data governance and privacy in technology development
Intellectual Property
- Patent prosecution and enforcement, including for technologies utilizing AI
- Trademark and copyright prosecution and enforcement
- IP transactions, including acquisition or disposition of IP assets
- IP licensing
- Commercialization of IP
Labor and Employment
- Day-to-day human resource issues
- Workplace policies, practices and procedures
- Employee benefits and executive compensation
- Non-compete arrangements
- Discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, and restrictive covenant litigation
Real Estate
- Acquisitions and dispositions
- Financing, leasing and construction
- Land use, zoning, land development and permitting
Litigation & Disputes
- Intellectual property disputes
- Breach of contract, negligence, invasion of privacy, and other claims before courts and arbitration forums
Saul Ewing attorneys advised on these select technology industry representations:
Information Technology and Software
- A multi-national software development company specializing in the development of a major cloud commerce platform in its sale to an IT distribution company for approximately $90 million.
- A web application development company in a preferred stock financing transaction.
- A software company in a $50 million commercial agreement with a multinational hospitality company.
- A self-storage technology, software and services company in its offer to shareholders to repurchase stock and redemption.
- A provider of engineering and technology solutions in convincing opposing counsel to withdraw all claims in light of our motion for summary judgment in an employment discrimination matter.
- Numerous software vendors, including a premier provider of BPO management software solutions for the financial services and insurance industries.
- A leading vendor of check clearing and lockbox software and hardware solutions in its negotiations with several national financial institution customers.
- A billing-and-claims-management software vendor in litigation to enforce its license agreement with a state agency and to prevent access by a competitor to the vendor's intellectual property and trade secrets, resulting in withdrawal of the agency's RFP and negotiation of a multi-year, multimillion-dollar contract extension for the client.
- A software vendor/service provider in negotiation of multiple enterprise-wide business process outsourcing (BPO) agreements for transaction processing with financial institutions and major consulting firms.
- An information technology government contractor with the negotiation of AI clauses in a reseller agreement.
- A software-as-a-service company on contract and IP rights relating to AI-created videos.
Emerging Technologies
- A hedge fund on the launch of its initial fund focused on blockchain, crypto and other decentralized finance strategies, involving tax, structuring, corporate and securities advice.
- Companies in the issuance of tokenized (blockchain-based) securities.
- An AI startup in obtaining patent protection directed to technology to improve broadband speed and availability.
- A tech startup company in obtaining patent protection directed to AI systems in sectors such as health care, finance and autonomous systems.
- Various clients in handling patent applications for inventions utilizing AI.
- A client in a staking agreement with a cryptocurrency exchange.
- A cryptocurrency marketing entity in connection with exclusive marketing rights associated with a DeFi token.
- A producer and seller of celebrity-branded NFTs.
Digital Platforms and Services
- A rapidly growing fintech company in connection with the multimillion dollar purchase of a 75-percent controlling interest by a large private equity firm.
- A provider of a technology-enabled marketplace and platform in a preferred stock financing.
- InsurTech startups in complying with state insurance regulations and structuring agreements with other companies.
- A mobile interactive entertainment company in helping to create and maintain a large U.S. patent portfolio covering video games that helped make the client a highly lucrative acquisition target.
- A mobile interactive entertainment company in protecting all intellectual property aspects of its video games, including handling the patent prosecution process for its game developments, copyright-protecting its software code, and providing ongoing strategic intellectual property advice.
- An independent video game developer in the negotiation of development and funding agreements.
- A video game developer and publisher in defending against patent litigation in which the patents at issue related to software for performing lip synchronization for video game characters.
- A multinational technology company operating a digital marketplace in successfully moving to compel arbitration in a breach of contract and negligence action.
Specialized Applications
- A provider of water purification and management technology in negotiating a credit facility from the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
- A market-leading health information exchange technology provider in numerous transactions with federal and state government entities, including HHS, CDC, and DOD, statewide hospital associations, subcontractors, and data sources and recipients.
- Medical device and diagnostic companies in protecting their intellectual property, commercializing their products, and contracting with clinical research organizations.
- Biotechnology companies involved in immunotherapy, cell therapy, vaccines and stem cells in various legal aspects, including strategic partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, restrictive covenant agreements, and compliance with the Sunshine Act.
- Utility-scale, community, commercial and industrial solar companies in acquisitions of and investments in solar facilities, solar energy development projects, power purchase agreements and renewable energy certificates.
- Wind power developers, owners and users in onshore and offshore wind development projects, including leasehold sales, due diligence, land use, and permitting issues.
- A company exploring the first utility-scale battery project in Maryland as Maryland local counsel, providing due diligence and land use advice.
- A provider of testing services in defending claims of negligence and invasion of privacy in connection with a test administered through video remote monitoring.
