
Stephen Y. Chow
Lecturer
Managing Attorney, Hsuanyeh Law Group PC
AB, Harvard College
SM, Harvard University
JD, Columbia University
Biography
Stephen Y. Chow is managing attorney of the Boston law firm, Hsuanyeh Law Group PC, practicing in business and intellectual property litigation, patent preparation, electronic commerce and privacy, and technology company counseling and transactions. Mr. Chow graduated from Harvard University with an AB in Physics and Philosophy cum laude and an SM in Applied Physics and from Columbia University with a JD as a Stone Scholar. He is admitted to practice and practices in Massachusetts, New York and the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Applying knowledge and leadership across the full spectrum of proprietary rights in information, life sciences, and technology in contexts involving competition, employment and entity governance law, for forty years, Mr. Chow has counseled and litigated for technology enterprises from start-up to multi-national in expanding their information asset portfolios and in resolving their technology and trade disputes. Having successfully managed parallel federal district court and International Trade Commission defenses against the industry leader in the early days of cellular telephony, he has continued to trouble-shoot for emerging enterprises ranging from their capitalization and recapitalization to assertion and defense of their patents in court and before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board.
Mr. Chow served twenty years ago on the influential drafting committees of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws on the proposed UCC Article 2B (Licenses) and the nearly universally adopted Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and remains active in developing legislation involving the convergence of commercial and intellectual property law. Among his recent projects are the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets and the Uniform Employee and Student Online Protection Act. He serves on the Conference’s Technology [Legislation Editorial] Committee, its current Drafting Committee on Tort Law Relating to Drones, as well as its Standby Committee on UN Convention on E-Commerce. He was a member of the US delegation to the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group VI (Secured Transactions – Intellectual Property Supplement).
Mr. Chow is an elected and active member of the American Law Institute, consulting on the “principles” projects on data economy, data privacy, international intellectual property law and software licensing and the “restatement” projects on conflict of laws, consumer contracts, copyright, employment, and international commercial arbitration law. He wrote the Matthew Bender/Lexis-Nexis legal treatise, E-Commerce and Communications, has revised and updated its treatises International Computer Law and Law of the Internet, and has edited and written the continuing legal education association prize-winning Data Security and Privacy in Massachusetts. Mr. Chow taught from 1995 to 2013 the Suffolk Law School courses, “Litigating Technology Disputes” and “Counseling Technology-Leading Emerging Enterprises” and will teach the Boston University School of Law course, “Intellectual Property Rights and Commerce in the Global ‘Cloud’.” He is a frequent instructor and panel organizer for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education in data privacy and security, software and technology licensing.
Mr. Chow is currently chair of the American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section’s Division IV (Specialized IP), comprising the Antitrust, Design Law, Digital Games & New Media, Information Technology, IP Monetization & Valuation, IP Transactions & Licensing, Marketing and Promotional Law, Right of Publicity and Trade Secrets Committees. He has also served as a member of the Association’s Cybersecurity Legal Task Force.
- Profile Types
- Faculty, JD Program, Lecturers & Adjunct Professors, and Part-Time Faculty
- Areas of Interest
- Competition Law, Electronic Commerce, and Intellectual Property & Information Law
Activities & Engagements
No upcoming activities or engagements.
Courses
Role of In-House Counsel: LAW JD 978
Practicing law in-house is often done at the tension point of enterprise growth and risk mitigation. This course explores the unique aspects of working as a lawyer within an organization's internal legal department. In order to provide a realistic appreciation and understanding of the role of in-house counsel, the course will utilize scenario-based group tutorials and simulations in which students will act as in-house counsel for a fictitious company in a specific industry. Areas covered may include contractual and employment matters, regulatory, compliance, internal investigations, enterprise risk questions and advising the Board of Directors and senior management. While the course will involve the substantive law of various areas relevant to the fictitious company's business and operations, the focus of the course will be on practicing and building lawyering skills that are critical for effective and ethical in-house practice. These include identifying and analyzing legally viable alternatives, and making recommendations, for the company to pursue to carry-out its business strategy and mitigate risks, as well as written and oral communications and presentations reflecting the same. As an overarching theme, the course will consider how to balance the important role of lawyer and trusted business advisor with the backdrop of the ever-present ethical and reputational considerations of the enterprise. This course is designed to provide students with practical skills (as well as opportunities to use and apply them) as they learn to identify and navigate the day-to-day challenges of the modern corporate counsel. Grades in the course will be based on scenario-based responses (presentation and/or written), a collaborative final group presentation, and in-class participation. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. NOTE: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar will be administratively dropped from the course. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first class to be considered for enrollment. Because the course involves regular in-class exercises, some of which are done in teams, and class participation is a significant component of a student's final grade, regular class attendance is essential and thus the course normally does not accommodate flexibility in attendance.
SPRG 2026: LAW JD 978 A1 , Jan 12th to May 8th 2026Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
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Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Daniel Layo |