Grant Kim

Highly experienced arbitrator and advocate, especially in international and intellectual property disputes. Loves to learn about new technology and to dig into cases to identify and analyze the critical issues.

Experience

Mr. Kim has over 35 years of experience with international arbitration, intellectual property litigation, and other commercial disputes. His first case as a young lawyer was a bet-the-company international arbitration involving computer software copyrights. He has since handled numerous disputes involving patents, copyrights, and other intellectual property, both as counsel and as an arbitrator. He is familiar with a wide range of technology, including computer software and hardware, smartphones, semiconductors, biotechnology, and medical and mechanical devices. He also has extensive experience with other commercial disputes, including joint venture, M&A, distribution and sales, construction, defamation, and technology transfer and licenses.

Work History

Grant Kim is a partner in the San Francisco office of LimNexus LLP, a minority-owned boutique that he joined in 2017 to develop his practice as an arbitrator. He previously worked for 30 years at major international law firms in San Francisco and Tokyo (Morrison & Foerster, 25 years) and in Seoul (Kim & Chang, 5 years). He also served as a Staff Attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and as a judicial extern for Justice Donald B. King of the California Court of Appeal.

Cases

Served as an arbitrator or counsel in numerous international and U.S. arbitrations, venued in the U.S,, Asia, or Europe, and under the laws of both common and civil law jurisdictions. Also served as counsel in numerous cases in the U.S. federal and state courts. Extensive experience with patents and other intellectual property, in the context of both court litigation and international arbitration. Representative cases as arbitrator include: Chair, arbitration involving patent indemnity dispute; Chair, arbitration arising from foreign investment into large real estate development project; sole arbitrator, two unrelated cases arising from technology licenses and involving parties from the U.S. and Asia; sole arbitrator, dispute between U.S. and Canadian parties arising from design and engineering contract for computer peripheral device; co-arbitrator, dispute involving ICANN top--level domain name policies; co-arbitrator, dispute arising from $100 million Put Option; co-arbitrator, dispute between parties to joint venture in Vietnam; co-arbitrator, dispute between multi-level marketing company and former VP for Asia. Representative cases as arbitration counsel include: ICC arbitration in Zurich arising from termination of biotech patent license; ICDR arbitration in New York arising from settlement of global patent litigation; ICC arbitration in Zurich arising from joint development and cross-license agreement for the Linux operating system; ICC arbitration in Hong Kong arising from $1 billion M&A: ICC arbitration in Seoul arising from sale of large manufacturing plant; KCAB arbitration in Seoul arising from construction of $400 million power plant; two related ICC arbitrations in New York arising from the sale of a large financial instituting, involving claims for over $1 billion; counsel to Korean manufacturer in ICDR arbitration against former North American distributor; ICC arbitration in London arising from construction project in Saudi Arabia. Representative cases as litigation counsel include: patent jury trial for Silicon Valley computer company; patent trial for Silicon Valley video chip company before the U.S. International Trade Commission; numerous other patent lawsuits involving computers, smartphones, encryption, biotech, medical devices, and mechanical devices; numerous breach of contract, business tort, and defamation lawsuits in state and federal courts.

Training

Mr. Kim has received arbitrator training from the ICDR, AAA, ICC, CPR, and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has also served as a faculty member for arbitrator trainings conducted by the ICC and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

License(s)

Mr. Kim is licensed to practice in California and before numerous federal courts, including the Ninth Circuit, the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Education

Mr. Kim received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law; and received his B.A. with honors from Pomona College.

Publications

Mr. Kim\"s publications include an article about the rapid growth of international arbitration in Korea, published in the Pepperdine Law Review; an article about the development of international arbitration in California, published in the Korea Arbitration Review; and a chapter about East Asisan Cultural Influences, published in the Asian Leading Arbitrators\" Guide to International Arbitration. He also co-authored a chapter about Agreements to Arbitration Intellectual Property and Technology Disputes, which is expected to be published in the near future.

Awards

The Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center has appointed Mr. Kim to its Tech List, which recognizes outstanding neutral for technology disputes. He has also been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer for international work.

Panels

International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR); American Arbitration Association (AAA); CPR Institute for Conflict Prevention and Dispute Resolution (International and Tech); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC); and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB). He has also served as an arbitrator for the International Chamber of Commerce and as a neutral decisionmaker for Internet-related disputes, including an ICANN Independent Review Process; generic top-level domain name disputes; and numerous ordinary domain name disputes

Associations

Mr. Kim is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the North American Branch and as Chair of the Northern California Chapter. He is also a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a member of the Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center. Mr. Kim previously served as Overseas President of the International Association of Korean Lawyers and is a co-founder and former president of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California.

Miscellaneous

Mr. Kim\"s grandparents were among the first wave of Korean immigrants to the U.S. in the early 1900\"s. He was born and raised in California and learned Korean as an adult while working in Korea, first as an English teacher and later as a lawyer. He has also studied in France and worked in Japan. He loves to learn new languages and to experience different cultures.