Ken D. Kumayama

Ken Kumayama’s career has been defined by his handling of many diverse, high-value intellectual property matters in a variety of industries across many parts of the world, with a particular focus on the Bay Area and Asia.

From biotechnology to semiconductors and artificial intelligence, he has a wealth of experience dealing with many intellectual property, privacy and cybersecurity matters that have garnered him recognition by his peers as one of the best tech lawyers in the field. He has also been selected by The Daily Journal as a Top Artificial Intelligence Lawyer in 2019 and a Top Cybersecurity Lawyer in 2022.

Ever since joining Skadden in 2011, Kumayama has focused his practice on complex intellectual property, data privacy and cybersecurity matters. He represents clients in a range of technology transactions, including with respect to ownership and protection of IP rights, technology development and transfer agreements, trademark, copyright, patent and content licensing agreements, and complex sales and acquisitions involving IP assets.

He has represented technological giants such as Dell Technologies in its $4 billion divestiture of Boomi; Netflix in its acquisition of The Roald Dahl Story Company; Xilinx in its $49 billion acquisition by Advanced Micro Devices; and Scopely, Inc. in its pending $4.9 billion acquisition by Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.

In what’s currently pending as the largest-ever technology deal in the world, Kumayama also led his team’s intellectual property, privacy and cybersecurity efforts for Activision Blizzard, Inc. in its $75 billion acquisition by Microsoft Corporation. His role was to oversee sell-side diligence and disclosure processes, helping guide the Activision team through various multi-jurisdictional intellectual property and privacy issues, including with respect to negotiating the IP-related aspects of the transaction with Microsoft on key terms in the purchase agreement and disclosure schedules.

“These are two huge, international companies, so there was a lot to cover,” Kumayama said. “With videogames, you’re obviously talking about IP, but there are also many privacy cybersecurity considerations to work through. For my team, it was just a lot of fun to learn about various games and help our client work through complicated legal questions.”

—Devon Belcher