Duane has counseled a wide variety of emerging growth, public and privately held companies on intellectual property and technology matters. Prior to joining Google in 2011, Duane worked at Chadbourne & Parke LLP, where his practice focused on patent portfolio development, IP strategy and complex technology transactions for clients in the clean technology, information technology and digital media sectors.
Duane’s experience includes serving as chief patent counsel for Yahoo! Inc. During his tenure with the company, he reinvigorated the patent function, drastically increasing Yahoo’s filings and issued patents. Mr. Valz also introduced many innovations to the company’s development and positioning of its IP assets, including custom developed software tools and new appraisal and asset management methodologies. His efforts resulted in Yahoo! becoming a constituent of the Ocean Tomo 300® Patent Index, and climbing the ranks of the Wall Street Journal and Patent Board’s top 35 companies in the information technology sector. Duane also led Yahoo’s cross-functional open source working group, which developed policies, best practices and review mechanisms for in bound and out bound applications of open source technologies.
A seasoned speaker, lecturer and policy adviser on law and technology matters, Duane has presented testimony at the Federal Trade Commission on the evolving IP marketplace, regularly guest lectures at U.C. Berkeley’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology and has participated in numerous conferences and roundtables on intellectual property law. A patented inventor, he has written and spoken about the impact of In re Bilski on patent eligible subject matter, including amicus curiae filings both at the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Yahoo!
Duane began his career as an attorney in San Francisco, CA with the law offices of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin (now merged with Arnold & Porter LLP), where he was an organizer of the firm's intellectual property practice group.
Duane received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he served as submissions editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. He also earned a bachelor’s degree, with honors & distinction in general scholarship, from the University of California at Berkeley.