Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel, Inc., a leading Northern California law firm, today announced that Joel Riff, a technology transactions specialist, has joined the firm as Of Counsel with its Business & Tax Group. Riff will co-chair the specialized Intellectual Property Group and will be based in San Jose.

Riff joins Hoge Fenton with over 25 years of experience practicing law, the majority of his career focused on technology-related law in Silicon Valley. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago Law School, and is an active member of the Licensing Executives Society and the Intellectual Property Society.

Riff is a nationally-recognized expert on the topic of intellectual property law.  He has addressed Georgetown University’s Advanced Computer and Internet Law Institute, Stanford Law School, the Intellectual Property Protection Summit, the International RFID Intellectual Property Conference, and many other groups. 

Previously, Riff was a partner at GCA Law Partners (formerly known as General Counsel Associates) where he specialized in licensing and other technology transactions.  Prior to that, he was a partner and head of Fenwick & West’s Licensing and Online Commerce Group where he organized Fenwick’s first Internet Law Symposium and co-authored its annual International Legal Protection for Software survey.

“It’s exciting for me to be able to leverage my skills at a prestigious firm like Hoge Fenton,” said Riff. “Intellectual property law has never been more challenging or exciting, and I look forward to helping our clients navigate the technology landscape.”

Adds Kathy Meier, Managing Shareholder at the firm, “Joel brings exactly the type of expertise we’ve been looking for as a foundation to continued growth for our firm.  His hire marks a firm-wide expansion in the intellectual property area, and we look forward to his contributions.”