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Represented Fortune 500 company in complex patent litigation against competitor. Technology at issue involved antimicrobial treatments for use in food processing plants. Case resulted in a verdict of willful infringement against competitor as to multiple asserted claims, and verdict of misappropriation of trade secrets.

Represented large hard disk drive company in connection with trade secret misappropriation claims. Successfully obtained order compelling enforcement of binding arbitra...

  • New York University School of Law, J.D., 2001,

    magna cum laude, Order of the Coif

  • Pomona College, B.A. Psychology, 1998,

    cum laude, Psi Chi Honor Society

  • Minnesota State Bar, 2001
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2017
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 2012
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, 2008
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2006
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2003
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, 2002
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 2002

American Intellectual Property Law Association
Federal Bar Association – MN Chapter
Past President and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Federal Circuit Bar Association
Minnesota State Bar Association
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
    Appointed Co-Chair, Merit Selection Panel, 2014
The Fund for Legal Aid
    Board of Directors
Minnesota Women Lawyers

Appellate advocacy, Intellectual Property Moot Court class at the University of Minnesota Law School

Coach, University of Minnesota Law School Moot Court Team, Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition held at the Federal Circuit (national championship)

Law clerk for the Honorable James B. Loken, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Best Lawyers in America by The Best Lawyers in America, 2014-2024
Selected for inclusion in Minnesota Super Lawyers, 2013-2022
Selected for inclusion in The Top Women Attorneys in Minnesota, 2022
Best Lawyer by Minnesota Monthly, 2017-2021
IP Stars Top 250 Women in IP, 2015
40 Under 40 honoree, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, 2014
Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer, 2014
Selected for inclusion in Minnesota Super Lawyers, 2013-2020
Selected for inclusion in The Top Women Attorneys in Minnesota, 2012
Selected for inclusion in Minnesota Rising Stars, 2007-2012

Represented appellee, an inventor of a novel game component, in Federal Circuit appeal of favorable district court judgment. Acted as principal attorney on appeal and argued case before the Federal Circuit. Two days after argument, Federal Circuit affirmed district court judgment in its entirety.

Represented company in food science field in appeal to Federal Circuit of district court’s summary judgment of noninfringement in a patent case.

Represented company in semiconductor field in connection with appeal of district court judgment rendering entire patent portfolio unenforceable for inequitable conduct. Convinced Federal Circuit to stay enforcement of attorneys’ fee award against company pending appeal in view of dire financial consequences of immediate enforcement. Federal Circuit reversed the finding of unenforceability in its entirety, thus mooting the district court’s award of approximately $3.3 million in attorneys’ fees against the company.

Represented Fortune 500 company in appeal to Federal Circuit of district court’s denial of preliminary injunctive relief based on erroneous claim construction in a patent case. Obtained reversal of claim construction on appeal, resulting in favorable resolution of matter in its entirety on remand.

Represented appellee, company in waste treatment industry, in connection with multiple appeals at the Federal Circuit. Company sought to preserve summary judgment of noninfringement entered in its favor in patent infringement case. In a first appeal, used motion practice to obtain dismissal of appeal. In a second appeal, obtained affirmance of district court’s ruling in its entirety.

Represented appellee, Fortune 500 company, in motion practice before the Federal Circuit in connection with appellant’s request for immediate stay of district court patent litigation proceedings in favor of arbitration. Obtained order denying appellant’s request and summarily affirming district court’s order denying arbitration.

Presentations

Presenter, On the Cutting Edge: Updates on Patent Law, Data Privacy, and E-Commerce CLE (July 11, 2019)

Presenter, Hot Topics, Trends, & Updates: 3-Minute Case Summaries: What Every In-House Lawyer Needs to Know, Nashville, Tennessee, November 8, 2018

Panelist, Ethics & Elimination of Bias For IP Lawyers Series – Part II, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 14, 2018

Panelist,Ethics & Elimination of Bias for IP Lawyers Series – Part I, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 31, 2018

Presenter, Hot Topics, Trends, & Updates: Cybersecurity, Patent Litigation Decisions, and the Implications, CLE hosted in Beachwood, Ohio.  (July 11, 2018)

Presenter, Safeguarding Trade Secrets: Tips and Tools for Identifying, Managing, and Protecting Confidential Business Information, CLE jointly hosted with the Tennessee chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, October 28, 2015

Presenter, Making (Thera) Sense of Inequitable Conduct, Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association Seminar, November 2011

Co-Presenter, Everything You Need To Know About Electronic Discovery, INTA Trademark Administrator’s Conference, October 2010

Moderator, HNBA 2010 Annual convention, A Judicial Perspective on the Meaning and Impact of Iqbal and Twombly with District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz and Magistrate Judge Janie S. Mayeron, September 2010

Presenter, Patent Damages vs. Patent Reform, Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association Seminar, November 2009

Moderator, 35th Annual Federal Court Practice Seminar, Ooops – You Won Your Patent Infringement Case, but the Defendant is Broke: Collection Strategies for the IP Lawyer, June 2009

Publications

35 U.S.C. § 101: Reports of its death are exaggerated, Minnesota Lawyer, Co-Authored with Elisabeth Muirhead, March 6, 2018

A Circuit Divided: Supreme Court Refuses Request to Reconcile Federal Circuit’s Dissonant Inequitable Conduct Standards, Intellectual Property Today, July 2009

How To Try A Patent Case On A Budget…And Win, Law360, April 2009

The Way the “Cookies” Crumble: Internet Privacy and Data Protection in the Twenty-First Century, New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, Volume 4, Number 2, Spring 2001