Mark S. Ostrau

650-335-7269
mostrau@fenwick.com
Partner Emeritus (retired)
Regulatory

Mark S.
Ostrau

Mark S.
Ostrau

Mark S.
Ostrau

Partner Emeritus (retired)
Regulatory

Mark advised technology and life sciences companies on a wide variety of antitrust, foreign investment review, and other regulatory issues, and assisted clients in acquisitions, licenses, and other technology-related commercial transactions.

Mark’s practice included regularly representing clients before various government antitrust agencies in connection with the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and other antitrust aspects of acquisitions worldwide. He handled several hundred filings with the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice antitrust sections specifically responsible for technology matters, including many of the more significant transactions in the industry, such as Cisco Systems’ acquisition of Scientific Atlanta, Symantec’s acquisition of Veritas Software, Macromedia’s acquisition by Adobe, Data Domain’s acquisition by EMC, King Digital’s acquisition by Activision Blizzard, Spansion’s merger with Cypress Semiconductor, Cray’s acquisition by HPE, and Concur’s acquisition by SAP. He managed numerous HSR “second requests” and related foreign investigations involving market concentration, technology, and IP issues, including matters such as Adobe/Macromedia, Cooper/Ocular Sciences, Cadence/CCT, Microsoft/Intuit, P&G/Billie, and Sanofi/Maze Therapeutics. Mark has also represented numerous domestic and foreign clients in connection with matters before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including matters for Cerebras Systems, Niantic Labs, OSIsoft, and Smartsheet.

Mark also provided daily advice and counseling on the issues and business practices critical to technology industries, including R&D collaborations, patent pools and standard setting, product interoperability, patent and copyright misuse, package licensing and bundling, marketing and distribution, and pricing and discrimination. He represented scores of IT, internet and life sciences companies, from startups to industry leaders.

Mark authored numerous articles and presented many speeches and educational seminars on a variety of antitrust and licensing topics relevant to technology industries, and was often quoted in industry and general media on antitrust topics. He was a contributing author and/or editor for the ABA Antitrust Section handbooks Intellectual Property Misuse: Licensing and Litigation (2000), Premerger Notification Practice Manual (2015) and Antitrust in Technology Industries (2018; 2025).

Mark has been listed annually in Best Lawyers in America for antitrust law since 2009 and was named Lawyer of the Year in 2020. He has also been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2006 by Super Lawyers.

While attending Stanford University, Mark clerked with the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice

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  • ASML
  • Cerebras
  • Cisco Systems
  • Coinbase
  • Databricks
  • Dexcom
  • Intuit
  • Maze Therapeutics
  • Peloton
  • Redfin
  • Symantec
  • Veritas

  • ASML
  • Cerebras
  • Cisco Systems
  • Coinbase
  • Databricks
  • Dexcom
  • Intuit
  • Maze Therapeutics
  • Peloton
  • Redfin
  • Symantec
  • Veritas