Michael K. Barron is a corporate and securities partner based in DLA Piper's Boston office.

Mr. Barron represents technology and life sciences companies and advises companies, entrepreneurs and investors in the areas of formation and governance, early and later stage debt and equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, employment and executive compensation, and intellectual property matters, including trademark and technology licensing.

Mr. Barron serves on the board and as general counsel to several trade associations that focus on promoting and developing companies and professionals in the technology and life sciences industries. One of these organizations is the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX), a trade association serving more than 7,000 New England professionals involved in Internet and digital technologies industry. Mr. Barron founded MITX in 1995 to help promote the development and growth of the Internet and digital technologies industry in New England.

Mr. Barron is recognized by Boston magazine as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer and is included in Lawdragon's 3000 Leading Lawyers in America. Mr. Barron is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest designation available.

Representative Transactions

Financings

• Wayfair LLC (f/k/a CSN Stores LLC), a top 100 online retailer of home and office goods, in its US$165 million Series A financing from Battery Ventures, Great Hill Partners, HarbourVest Partners and Spark Capital – recognized as the largest venture capital financing closed in the United States in the second quarter of 2011 by The Boston Globe
• Aras Corporation, a leading provider of PLM software solutions, in the sale of its Series B Preferred Stock to current and new angel investors
• New Science Ventures, a venture capital company, in several portfolio investments, including
  • Series A in Achronix Semiconductor Corporation
  • Series D investment in BioScale, Inc.
  • Series B investment in Dali Systems Co. Ltd.
  • Series F investment in Ikonisys, Inc.
  • Series D investment in Oxyrane UK Limited
• An early stage biotechnology company in a series of private placements of its common stock raising US$200 million prior to its IPO

Mergers and Acquisitions

• createthe group, inc., a leading digital agency specializing in providing services to luxury and fashion brands, in its acquisition of Morpheus Media, which provides strategic digital media services including display media, paid search, natural search optimization, social media management, mobile and pay-for-performance marketing
• Racepoint Group, Inc., a global public relations agency, in its acquisition of PPR Greater China, a leading integrated communications public relations company with headquarters in Hong Kong and offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore
• Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc., a leading publisher of children's books, in the purchase of all the assets of Imagine Publishing, Inc., including children's books by musicians Neil Sedaka and Peter Yarrow
• abeo Management Corporation, a health care billing services company, in its acquisition of Ahma, Inc., a Maryland corporation providing health care billing services
• Wayfair LLC, a top 100 online retailer, in its acquisition of Buyster Pty Ltd., an online retailer based in Australia
• Digital Cement, Inc., a professional services firm that provides relationship management strategy and services to help companies acquire, retain, manage and grow their customer relationships, in its acquisition by Pitney Bowes, Inc.
• Lexigen Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel cancer treatments, in its acquisition by Merck KGaA
• eMed Technologies Corporation, a medical images technology company, in its acquisition by Cedara Software Corp.
• ZapThink LLC, a recognized authority on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), in its acquisition by Dovèl Technologies, Inc.

Intellectual Property

• Negotiated a license agreement for the development of a novel treatment for HIV/AIDS between a small private biotechnology company and a large public biotechnology company
• Negotiated a research, development and license agreement providing US$100 million in funding over a several year period between an early stage private biotechnology company and a large international pharmaceutical company to develop novel treatments for schizophrenia
• Negotiated numerous patent license agreements between early-stage biotechnology companies and universities
• Negotiated a patient management and billing outsource agreement between a national health care company and a major computer services company
• Developed numerous license agreements, terms of service and privacy policies for software and Internet companies
• Counseled and managed a portfolio of trademarks for a major technology company
• Developed a merchandise licensing program for a popular children's character
• Represented publishers and authors with respect to publishing agreements
• Established and grew a substantial trademark practice for a national law firm