Vera Elson is a trial lawyer and partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Silicon Valley office. Vera focuses her practice on intellectual property trial and counseling for the Firm’s technology clients. Vera has tried numerous intellectual property cases to verdict in federal circuit, district and state courts, and has extensive experience representing clients before the International Trade Commission (ITC).
She is a patent attorney registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as a member of the ITC Trial Lawyers Association.
Vera has been recognized by Chambers USA 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 as a leading lawyer in Intellectual Property in California based on client interviews and peer reviews. She was named among the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal's 2008 “Women of Influence” in Silicon Valley. She has also been recognized as one of the Daily Journal's 2008 and 2009 Top 50 Intellectual Property Litigators and the Daily Journal's 2008 and 2009 Top Women Litigators in California. Vera has been named by Northern California Super Lawyers magazine as one of the top attorneys in Northern California from 2004 through 2008. Vera served on the faculty of the 2007 Sedona Conference on Patent Litigation. She is a regular faculty member at PLI’s Litigation Section meeting in San Francisco.
Vera interned at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. for the late Chief Judge Helen Wilson Nies, and is currently a member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association. Vera holds an M.S.E.E. from U.C.L.A. and worked as a high-speed digital circuit designer for Hughes Aircraft’s Advanced Circuit Technology Laboratory before receiving her law degree from the University of Southern California.
Vera’s publications include: “The Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege & Use of Non-Liability Opinions After In re Seagate,” The Sedona Conference Journal, October 2008; WSGR’s Strategic Patenting Manual, Spring 2000; “Reviewing Competitors’ Patents: Are There Risks?,” Corporate Counsel Magazine, June 1995; “Throw a Party, Lose Your Patent Rights!,” Design News,
Vera is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Northern and Central Districts of California.
Representative Intellectual Property Cases in the District Courts
- Seagate Technology, Convolve v. Seagate Technology. Defending Seagate Technology against claims of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation in a case involving disk drives. This case prompted the landmark Federal Circuit decision, In Re Seagate Technology, in which the court overturned 24 years of precedent in Seagate’s favor.
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Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Magsil Corporation v. Seagate Technology, et al.,. Currently representing Western Digital in a patent suit filed in the District of Delaware.
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Infineon AG, Volterra Semiconductor Corporation v. Primarion, Inc., Infineon Technologies AG, and Infineon Technologies North America. Currently representing Infineon in a patent suit filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.
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General Electric, Volumetrics Medical Imaging, LLC v. GE Healthcare. Successfully defended the GE Healthcare and GE Medical Systems businesses in a patent infringement lawsuit in North Carolina involving ultrasound medical imaging technology. McDermott is a GE Preferred Provider for intellectual property matters.
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Extreme Networks, Inc., Enterasys Networks, Inc. v. Extreme Networks, Inc. Represented defendant, Extreme Networks as trial counsel in a patent infringement case (six patents-in-suit) where case has been stayed pending reexam.
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Extreme Networks, Inc., Lucent Technologies v. Extreme Networks. Represented Extreme Networks at trial in Delaware and obtained one of only two favorable defense jury verdicts in a patent trial that year.
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Broadcom Corporation, Intel Corp. v. Broadcom Corporation. Trial counsel for Broadcom in a patent case before a Delaware jury relating to digital video processing and computer network technology. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Broadcom.
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VIA Technologies, Inc., Intel Corp. v. VIA Technologies. Successfully represented VIA Technologies in a breach of license and chipsets patent infringement case.
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Network Associates, Inc., Trend Micro Inc. v. Network Associates, Inc. Successfully represented Network Associates in virus detection and network security software patent infringement case.
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Brent Townshend, Townshend v. Rockwell/Conexant Corp. Successfully represented Townshend in 56K modem patents infringement and trade secret misappropriation case.
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Conner Peripherals, IBM v. Conner Peripherals. Successfully represented Conner Peripherals in a patent infringement case involving numerous hard disk and power-management patents.
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OPTi Computer, Inc., Chips & Technologies v. Opti Computer. Represented OPTi Computer in a DRAM memory patent infringement case.
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Packard Bell, Compaq v. Packard Bell. Successfully represented Packard Bell in a patent infringement case involving numerous motherboard and power-management patents.
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Gain Technology, Inc., Burr-Brown v. Gain Technology. Represented Gain Technology in a trade secret misappropriation case involving operational amplifier technology. The court ruled in favor of Gain Technology following a bench trial.
Appellate
- Micro Linear Corp., Pioneer Magnetics v. Micro Linear. Lead counsel for Micro Linear in power amplifier patent case. Won on summary judgment of noninfringement. Vera argued the appeal, which was affirmed by the Federal Circuit.
Representative Patent Cases in the International Trade Commission
- Qualcomm Incorporated, In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephone Handsets, Wireless Communication Devices, and Components Thereof. Current patent infringement action brought by Qualcomm (Complainant) against Nokia Corporation and Nokia, Inc. (Respondent).
- Linear Technology, Inc., In the matter of Certain Voltage Regulator Circuits. Successful patent infringement action brought by Linear Technology (Complainant) against Monolithic Power Systems (Respondent).
- VIA Technologies, Inc., In the Matter of Certain Integrated Circuit Chipsets, Components Thereof and Products Containing Same. Successful resolution of a breach of license and patent infringement action brought by Intel Corp. (Complainant) against VIA Technologies (Respondent).
- United Microelectronics Corporation, In the Matter of Certain CD-ROM Controllers and Products Containing Same II. Patent infringement action brought by Oak Technologies (Complainant) against United Microelectronics (Respondent). The ALJ found in favor of United Microelectronics.
- United Microelectronics Corporation, In the Matter of Certain Static Random Access Memories. SRAM patent action brought by SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, Inc. (Complainant) against United Microelectronics (Respondent). Successfully resolved before the Hearing.
- Conner Peripherals, Inc., In the Matter of Certain Low Power Computer Hard Disk Drive Systems and Products Containing Same. Power management patents action brought by Conner Peripherals (Complainant) against IBM (Respondent). Successfully resolved before the Hearing.
- OPTi Computer, Inc., In the Matter of Certain Microcomputer Memory Controllers, Components Thereof and Products Containing Same. Memory controller patents action brought by Chips and Technologies, Inc. (Complainant) against OPTi Computer and ETEQ Microsystems, Inc. (Respondents). Successfully resolved before the Hearing.
Education
- University of Southern California - Gould School of Law, J.D.
- University of California-Los Angeles, M.S.E.E.
- University of California-Los Angeles, B.S.
Languages Spoken
- German
- Spanish
