Experience

Profectus Technologies v. Google LLC

Represented Google LLC in its complete defense verdict from a Texas federal jury in the Western District of Texas in a case alleging that Google's Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max devices infringed a patent asserted by Profectus Technologies. The jury found that the asserted claims of the patent were invalid and that Google did not infringe.

Networking and Cybersecurity Solutions Company Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Represented a multinational networking and cybersecurity solutions company in a 6-patent infringement lawsuit in the Western District of Texas and in the related IPR proceedings. The lawsuit accused a broad range of data center-related technology, including routers, switches, firewall devices, and the company’s operating system of infringement. The matter resolved with a settlement favorable for our client.

Adobe Prevails in Writ of Mandamus Petition Seeking Transfer Out of WD of Texas

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals granted Adobe Inc.’s writ of mandamus petition seeking to transfer a patent case from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to Adobe’s home forum in the Northern District of California.

California's Equal Pay Act

Represented global technology retailer in a putative class action alleging pay disparities under California’s Equal Pay Act and Private Attorneys General Act; obtained favorable settlement pre-discovery.

Discrimination-based Failure to Hire Litigation

Obtained summary judgment for global e-retail and technology company in civil litigation alleging failure to hire based on race, national origin, age, and religious discrimination.

Huawei Technologies and Futurewei Technologies v. Yiren “Ronnie” Huang and CNEX Labs, Inc.

After a 3-week jury trial in Eastern District of Texas, successfully defended start-up CNEX Labs in a bet-the-company case against all claims of trade secret misappropriation, CFAA, RICO, and tortious interference brought by Huawei Technologies and Futurewei Technologies and attained a finding of misappropriation of trade secrets against Huawei in the field of SSD controller technology.

Integral Development Corp. v. Viral Tolat

We defended the co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer of a software company against claims alleging trade secret misappropriation (among others) after he took a position with a rival company.  Our vigorous defense of this matter included a successful summary judgment motion and opposing an appeal that followed. 

BladeRoom v. Facebook and Emerson

After a five-week jury trial before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, our team won for UK-based BladeRoom a $30 million verdict against global manufacturing giant Emerson for willful and malicious misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of a non-disclosure agreement relating to BladeRoom’s revolutionary new methodology for constructing warehouse-sized data centers. The Daily Journal named this one of the “Top Verdicts” in California in 2018. The Court subsequently awarded BladeRoom an additional $30 million in exemplary damages and $17 million in prejudgment interest, for a total judgement exceeding $77 million. Our client settled with Facebook after the first week of trial.

Private Attorney Generals Act Litigation

Represented global e-retail and technology company in litigation under California’s Private Attorneys General Act alleging non-compliant break policies and unpaid wages; obtained favorable settlement after limited defense discovery.

United States v. Mogal, Zhang, et al.

This trade-secret-theft case was indicted in June 2018 against five former and one current Fitbit employees alleging that each defendant unlawfully possessed trade secrets of their former employer Jawbone, Inc.  We are counsel for the one current Fitbit employee, Ms. Zhang, in a high profile and closely watched federal criminal case pending in the Bay Area.  No trial date has been set.  U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose Division), Case No. CR 18-00259BLF

Blue Spike v. Adobe Systems

Defended Adobe Systems in a five-patent case relating to signal abstraction technology involving 70+ defendants. We successfully obtained a transfer of venue from the Eastern District of Texas to the Northern District of California followed by a judgment of non-infringement. Pursued recovery of attorneys’ fees through appeal.

Comcast v. Promptu Systems

In response to patent litigation against Comcast, we have filed six IPR petitions challenging the three asserted patents. All six IPRs have been instituted for review on all grounds by the Patent Office. 

Tse v. Google, Inc.

Represented Google in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals seeking affirmance of a Northern District of California ruling that a digital rights management patent was invalid. The Federal Circuit ruled in favor of our client, affirming invalidity of the asserted patents.

hiQ Labs Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp.

Represented startup hiQ Labs Inc. in a precedent-setting litigation for data analytics, mining, and aggregator companies and their right to access publicly available data under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and a California state law on unauthorized computer access. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed hiQ’s preliminary injunction against LinkedIn.

Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies, Inc. et al.

Appointed by federal court Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California, John Cooper is serving as “special master” in Waymo’s trade secrets case against Uber, putting him at a focal point of what could be seen as a battle for the future of the autonomous vehicle industry.

Albert Jones v. Google Inc.

Represented Google in a multi-defendant patent infringement action in the Northern District of California involving smart phone, smart watch and headphone technologies. Following a claim construction hearing, the court ruled in favor of defendants.

Volterra Semiconductor v. Primarion & Infineon Technologies

We obtained a unanimous verdict in a three-week patent jury trial for our client Volterra Semiconductor in the United Stated District Court for the Northern District of California upholding the validity of Volterra's key patents for flip chip integrated power switches against challenges by defendants Infineon and Primarion. Infringement in favor of our client had been determined prior to trial as a result of key rulings we obtained in favor of Volterra in connection with claims construction and summary judgment proceedings.

Rotatable Technologies v. Motorola Mobility LLC and Quickoffice Inc.

Obtained a non-infringement judgment for defendants Motorola Mobility and Quickoffice Inc. on 47 mobile devices in a patent case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Judgment was upheld on appeal.

Round Rock Research v. Dell Inc.

Defended Dell in the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Texas and the District of Delaware against allegations that its products infringed 20 patents across a wide range of technologies involving DRAM, server management and monitoring, and BIOS.

Disney Enterprises, Inc. et al. v Hotfile Corp., et al.

Represented a cloud storage company against copyright infringement claims brought by five major movie studios in federal district court in Florida. The case involved cutting-edge issues of law under the DMCA, the Stored Communications Act and the Copyright Act in the cloud-computing context. 798 F. Supp. 2d 1303 (S.D. Fla. 2011)(motion to dismiss denied in part)

Cioffi, et al. v. Google Inc

Defended Google in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in a four-patent case relating to multi-process web browsers. The case is currently pending a post-trial invalidity decision based whether the reissue patents improperly recaptured disclaimed subject matter under 35 USC section 251.

Actus LLC v. Bank of America Corp, et al

We defended Sonic Solutions in litigation filed in the Eastern District of Texas by Actus LLC, a patent holding company, that asserted infringement claims on four patents relating to an electronic payments system directed at companies offering prepaid gift cards and online payment options for customers.  We were able to obtain an early favorable settlement for Sonic to avoid further costly legal proceedings. 

In re Lithium Batteries Antitrust Litigation

Represented Dell in lithium batteries antitrust litigation as class opt-out plaintiff in federal multidistrict litigation against suppliers of lithium ion batteries for alleged price-fixing of the batteries which are used in laptops.

Firm Highlights

News

Scraping Battles: Meta Loses Legal Effort to Halt Harvesting of Personal Profiles

Alex Reese spoke to Matt Fleischer-Black of  Cybersecurity Law Report about the Meta v. Bright Data decision and its impact on U.S. scraping case law. Read the article here (paywall or trial).

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Publication

Major Decision Affects Law of Scraping and Online Data Collection, Meta Platforms v. Bright Data

On January 23, 2024, the court in Meta Platforms Inc. v. Bright Data Ltd. , Case No. 3:23-cv-00077-EMC (N.D. Cal.), issued a summary judgment ruling with potentially wide-ranging ramifications for the law of scraping and...

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Publication

It Wasn’t Me, It Was the AI: Intellectual Property and Data Privacy Concerns With Nonprofits’ Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems

In today's rapidly changing technological landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is making headlines and being discussed constantly. To be sure, AI provides a powerful tool to nonprofits in creating content and exploiting for countless cost-effective...

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Publication

California Proposes New AI & Automated Decision-Making Technology Regulations

The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) released its draft  regulatory framework for automated decision-making technology (ADMT) on November 27. These regulations are a preview of what new requirements may look like for companies currently...

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Publication

Fair Use Question Goes to Trial in AI Copyright Lawsuit – Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence

On September 25, 2023, a United States Circuit Judge determined that fact questions surrounding issues of fair use and tortious interference required a jury to decide media conglomerate Thomson Reuters’s lawsuit against Ross Intelligence...

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News

Winston Liaw Named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that Winston Liaw has been named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow for 2024. Winston joins a select group of...

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Publication

Is the Copyright Threat to Generative AI Overhyped? Implications of Kadrey v. Meta

In November 2023, Meta successfully had nearly all of the claims against it dismissed in the Kadrey v. Meta Platforms, Inc. suit, a victory with potential implications for other technology companies with generative AI tools...

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News

Farella 2024 Partner Elevations: Cynthia Castillo and Greg LeSaint

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is pleased to announce the election of two lawyers to partnership effective Jan. 1: Cynthia Castillo and Greg LeSaint. “We are thrilled to elevate Cynthia and...

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Publication

A Summary of New Laws Coming for California Employers in 2024

In 2023, California has adopted several new employment laws either introducing new employee protections or codifying existing practices into state law. With these changes, employers will need to examine and adjust some of their...

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News

Farella Wins Complete Defense Ruling at Trial for Smart Meter Technology Company

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel secured a complete defense victory for a smart meter technology company following a two-week bench trial in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California...

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