408law.com — Area Code 408 | Silicon Valley Legal Community

Geography

The South Bay

Area code 408 was established in 1959 as a split from the 415 area code, created to serve the rapidly expanding communities of Santa Clara County. It covers San Jose — the largest city in Northern California — along with the surrounding cities of Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Milpitas, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and Gilroy, extending south through the Santa Clara Valley.

If area code 650 is the peninsula gateway to Silicon Valley, 408 is its engine room — the South Bay geography where Stanford's Industrial Park was established in 1951, where the semiconductor industry took root, and where generations of technology companies have headquartered, scaled, and been acquired.

San Jose Largest city in Northern California

Cupertino Technology headquarters corridor

Sunnyvale Technology & defense industries

Santa Clara Semiconductor & enterprise tech

Campbell West Valley professional corridor

Los Gatos Foothills · streaming media home

Gilroy Santa Clara County southern anchor

Legal Context

Where Technology Was Born

The 408 geography has a stronger claim than perhaps any other place on earth to having originated the modern technology industry. The legal community that has grown up around it reflects that history: highly specialized, deeply experienced in the mechanics of equity, licensing, and transactions at scale, and accustomed to matters where the stakes are measured in the billions.

Santa Clara County companies are typically incorporated in Delaware but governed day-to-day under California law — creating a dual-jurisdiction framework that runs through virtually every significant employment and equity matter in the region.

Semiconductor & Hardware IP

Patent portfolios, licensing, and trade secret protection — foundational to the Valley's original and ongoing industrial identity.

Venture & Startup Formation

Entity formation, founder agreements, cap table structuring, and Series A through exit — the full arc of the funded startup lifecycle.

Executive Compensation

Offer letters, stock option grants, RSUs, non-competes, and severance — in a market where equity has historically outpaced salary as the primary wealth driver.

M&A and Technology Transactions

Acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and licensing deals — a defining feature of the 408 commercial landscape across every technology cycle.

Employment Law

California's strongly employee-protective statutes apply across the 408, with particular complexity around non-competes, trade secrets, and equity disputes.