Constance is a US patent attorney and former patent litigator with 20 years of experience advising clients on intellectual property matters in a variety of high-technology industries.  Her practice includes IP due diligence, technology licensing, strategic alliances, joint development agreements and IP asset transfers, as well as strategic patent portfolio development and trade secrets protection.  Constance’s practice has involved technologies and know-how in the LED, RFID, semiconductor, medical devices, robotics, software, electronics, networking devices, and cryptography industries.  Her experience also includes applications in artificial intelligence and computer industry standards. 

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Before joining Acceleron Law Group, Constance founded AKIRA IP, an Oakland-based law firm since 2017, specializing in intellectual property transactions and patent prosecution services.  Prior to that, she was a partner at several major, US-based international law firms, including Hogan Lovells US LLP and Howrey LLP.  Though now focusing her practice on IP transactional matters, Constance is also an experienced trial lawyer and IP litigator, and is also a licensed UK Solicitor.

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Constance has technical degrees in computer science and physics, and a PhD in biophysics, all from the University of California at Berkeley.  Before entering law school, Constance was a research scientist in mathematical modeling and computer simulations of biological control systems.  She worked for over ten years with the Telerobotics Unit of the UC Berkeley School of Optometry in that endeavor.  In addition, she held postdoctoral positions at The Rockefeller University, NASA Ames Research Center, and the University of California at Berkeley as a UC President’s Fellow.  For many years, she was also the Department Chair and Professor of Computer Information Systems at Merritt College in Oakland, California.  She is fluent in French.

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In addition to her IP transactional practice, Constance also works pro bono for individuals and organizations in need of legal representation but with little or no financial resources.  Her pro bono work over the years has included, for example, successfully enforcing the rights of children and their families against unlawful discrimination in housing, through litigation under California’s Fair Employment & Housing Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act; and obtaining presidential clemency from President Obama for a client serving a mandatory life sentence for a low-level drug offense.

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In her down-time, Constance enjoys hiking and other outdoor activities with family and friends, rock climbing, cross-country skiing, and other wilderness adventures, trips to the various Bay Area science museums, and curling up with a good Sci-Fi or history book.