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Trusted Technology Transactions Advisor
Barath helps leading technology companies negotiate and implement their most complex and sophisticated IP-driven transactions, including development, integration, manufacturing, supply, and licensing agreements.
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Cutting-Edge Industry Experience
Barath works with technology companies in a diverse range of industries, including software and SaaS, artificial intelligence and machine learning, semiconductors, robotics, autonomous mobility, cleantech, digital health, digital media and entertainment, electronic gaming, fintech, and space.
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Government Contracts Expertise
Barath helps clients sell to federal customers and collaborate with government research institutions on technology development.
Barath Chari is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Barath represents technology companies at all stages of growth, from bootstrapped start-ups to leading global enterprises, in complex business transactions involving technology and intellectual property. He also has deep experience in assisting technology companies and their investors with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and financing matters. A Washington, D.C., transplant resident in the firm’s San Francisco office, Barath understands how the federal government transacts with technology companies, and helps technology companies sell products to federal government customers and collaborate with the federal government on research and development. He also leverages his pre-law experience as a software engineer to provide informed legal advice on technical topics such as open source software.
Barath Chari is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Barath represents technology companies at all stages of growth, from bootstrapped start-ups to leading global enterprises, in complex business transactions involving technology and intellectual property. He also has deep experience in assisting technology companies and their investors with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and financing matters. A Washington, D.C., transplant resident in the firm’s San Francisco office, Barath understands how the federal government transacts with technology companies, and helps technology companies sell products to federal government customers and collaborate with the federal government on research and development. He also leverages his pre-law experience as a software engineer to provide informed legal advice on technical topics such as open source software.
- J.D., The George Washington University Law School, 2008Cum Laude; Member, The George Washington International Law Review; President, South Asian Law Students Association
- B.A., Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, 2002Cum Laude
- Recognized in the 2025 and 2026 editions of the Lawdragon 100 Leading AI & Legal Tech Advisors guide
- Recognized in "Top Rising Stars: Class of 2021" list published by The Deal
- Bar of the District of Columbia
- State Bar of California
- J.D., The George Washington University Law School, 2008Cum Laude; Member, The George Washington International Law Review; President, South Asian Law Students Association
- B.A., Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, 2002Cum Laude
- Recognized in the 2025 and 2026 editions of the Lawdragon 100 Leading AI & Legal Tech Advisors guide
- Recognized in "Top Rising Stars: Class of 2021" list published by The Deal
- Bar of the District of Columbia
- State Bar of California
Select Matters
- Advised Transphorm on $339 million acquisition by Renesas
- Advised OhmConnect on merger agreement with Google Nest Renew
- Advised Lumentum on $750 million acquisition of Cloud Light
- Advised Droit in connection with formation of Endoxa Consortium
- Advised Anthropic in connection with Amazon partnership
- Advised Imbue on $200 million Series B financing
- Advised Via on its acquisition of MPEG LAWS
- Advised Gas on acquisition by Discord
- Advised Aeris Communications on agreement to transfer Ericsson’s IoT accelerator and connected vehicle cloud businesses
- Advised ForgeRock on $2.3 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo
- Advised ChargePoint on partnership with Goldman Sachs Renewable Power to accelerate EV charging deployment
- Advised Linkedin on several transactions, including the acquisitions of Oribi and EduBrite
- Advised RingCentral on strategic partnership with Mitel
- Represented C3.ai in commercial agreements with enterprise customers for deployment of C3’s suite of AI applications
- Advised Salesforce on expansion of global partnership with AWS
- Advised Salesforce on strategic commercial collaboration agreement with ServiceMax and related funding transaction
- Represented numerous private companies in agreements to move infrastructure to public-cloud providers, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud
- Represented numerous technology providers in sales of software, SaaS, and data products to financial institution customers
- Represented numerous clients in cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) with government-owned research institutions
- Represented numerous clients in connection with SBIR and STTR agreements with the Departments of Defense and Energy
- Represented numerous semiconductor clients in a variety of commercial transactions, including IP core and architecture license agreements with IP vendors, manufacturing and supply agreements with fabs, and patent license agreements with universities
- Advised on Twitter’s $44 billion acquisition by Elon Musk
- Advised Sierra Oncology on $1.9 billion acquisition by GSK
- Advised Aurora on acquisition of Uber ATG
- Advised Ambarella on its acquisition of Oculii
- Represented Automation Anywhere in acquisition of FortressIQ
- Advised Divergent on $160 million Series C funding
- Advised Lumentum on $5.7 billion acquisition of Coherent
- Advised Raxium on acquisition by Google
- Advised the Jeremy Lin Foundation on launch of collaborative
Select Matters
- Advised Transphorm on $339 million acquisition by Renesas
- Advised OhmConnect on merger agreement with Google Nest Renew
- Advised Lumentum on $750 million acquisition of Cloud Light
- Advised Droit in connection with formation of Endoxa Consortium
- Advised Anthropic in connection with Amazon partnership
- Advised Imbue on $200 million Series B financing
- Advised Via on its acquisition of MPEG LAWS
- Advised Gas on acquisition by Discord
- Advised Aeris Communications on agreement to transfer Ericsson’s IoT accelerator and connected vehicle cloud businesses
- Advised ForgeRock on $2.3 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo
- Advised ChargePoint on partnership with Goldman Sachs Renewable Power to accelerate EV charging deployment
- Advised Linkedin on several transactions, including the acquisitions of Oribi and EduBrite
- Advised RingCentral on strategic partnership with Mitel
- Represented C3.ai in commercial agreements with enterprise customers for deployment of C3’s suite of AI applications
- Advised Salesforce on expansion of global partnership with AWS
- Advised Salesforce on strategic commercial collaboration agreement with ServiceMax and related funding transaction
- Represented numerous private companies in agreements to move infrastructure to public-cloud providers, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud
- Represented numerous technology providers in sales of software, SaaS, and data products to financial institution customers
- Represented numerous clients in cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) with government-owned research institutions
- Represented numerous clients in connection with SBIR and STTR agreements with the Departments of Defense and Energy
- Represented numerous semiconductor clients in a variety of commercial transactions, including IP core and architecture license agreements with IP vendors, manufacturing and supply agreements with fabs, and patent license agreements with universities
- Advised on Twitter’s $44 billion acquisition by Elon Musk
- Advised Sierra Oncology on $1.9 billion acquisition by GSK
- Advised Aurora on acquisition of Uber ATG
- Advised Ambarella on its acquisition of Oculii
- Represented Automation Anywhere in acquisition of FortressIQ
- Advised Divergent on $160 million Series C funding
- Advised Lumentum on $5.7 billion acquisition of Coherent
- Advised Raxium on acquisition by Google
- Advised the Jeremy Lin Foundation on launch of collaborative
Select Clients
- Ampere Computing
- Analog Devices
- Arista Networks
- Armis
- Aurora Innovation
- Ayar Labs
- Cadence
- Carbon Health
- ChargePoint
- Couchbase
- Divergent Technologies
- Dolby Laboratories
- Epic Games
- ForgeRock
- GoDaddy
- Groq
- Impinj
- InterDigital
- Intevac
- Last Energy
- Lumentum
- Mammoth Biosciences
- MaxLinear
- Microchip
- MongoDB
- National Instruments
- Netgear
- OhmConnect
- Parade Technologies
- project44
- Roblox
- Roku
- Salesforce
- Slingshot Aerospace
- Splunk
- Stem
- Transphorm
- Waymo
- zScaler
Select Clients
- Ampere Computing
- Analog Devices
- Arista Networks
- Armis
- Aurora Innovation
- Ayar Labs
- Cadence
- Carbon Health
- ChargePoint
- Couchbase
- Divergent Technologies
- Dolby Laboratories
- Epic Games
- ForgeRock
- GoDaddy
- Groq
- Impinj
- InterDigital
- Intevac
- Last Energy
- Lumentum
- Mammoth Biosciences
- MaxLinear
- Microchip
- MongoDB
- National Instruments
- Netgear
- OhmConnect
- Parade Technologies
- project44
- Roblox
- Roku
- Salesforce
- Slingshot Aerospace
- Splunk
- Stem
- Transphorm
- Waymo
- zScaler
Select Publications
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Co-author, “Will Indemnification Commitments Address Market Demands in AI?” Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law, February 20, 2024
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Co-author, “Do's and Don’ts for Developing, Extending, and Using Generative AI Models,” The Computer & Internet Lawyer, May 2, 2023
- Co-author, "CHIPS Act Basics for Semiconductor Companies: Early Answers on Finding Funding and Resulting Risks," Wilson Sonsini Alert, August 9, 2022
- Co-author, “U.S. Supreme Court Rules for Google in Landmark Decision Recognizing Fair Use of Computer Code," Wilson Sonsini Alert, April 12, 2021
- Co-author, “Court Ruling Supports Contractual and Statutory Enforcement of Open Source Software Licenses,” Wilson Sonsini Alert, May 19, 2017
Select Publications
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Co-author, “Will Indemnification Commitments Address Market Demands in AI?” Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law, February 20, 2024
-
Co-author, “Do's and Don’ts for Developing, Extending, and Using Generative AI Models,” The Computer & Internet Lawyer, May 2, 2023
- Co-author, "CHIPS Act Basics for Semiconductor Companies: Early Answers on Finding Funding and Resulting Risks," Wilson Sonsini Alert, August 9, 2022
- Co-author, “U.S. Supreme Court Rules for Google in Landmark Decision Recognizing Fair Use of Computer Code," Wilson Sonsini Alert, April 12, 2021
- Co-author, “Court Ruling Supports Contractual and Statutory Enforcement of Open Source Software Licenses,” Wilson Sonsini Alert, May 19, 2017
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