Archives: Team Members

Ryan is experienced in all aspects of litigation, from pre-filing investigation and discovery to claim construction, summary judgment, trial, and beyond.  He has litigated complex cases relating to multiple areas of intellectual property, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets for clients in the United States, Asia, Canada, and Europe.  Ryan’s cases have spanned a wide range of subject matter, such as computer interfaces, communications protocols, wireless technology, pharmaceuticals, food additives, sporting gear, medical devices, power tools, and video game hardware and software.  His strong background and interest in technology enable Ryan to quickly understand new technical subject matter and identify key legal issues and strategies to help achieve the client’s business goals.

Ryan also assists clients to develop specifically-tailored approaches for managing and asserting their intellectual properties and, when possible, resolve potential disputes without resorting to unnecessary litigation.

Ryan has authored articles and provided commentary regarding legal developments relating to artificial intelligence, the video game industry, and other topics for multiple media outlets including The Washington Post, New Scientist, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg Law, Law360, World Intellectual Property Review, and others.  He has also appeared in cartoon form for the “Extra Credits” YouTube series in an episode discussing the legality of retro video game emulation.

Before pursuing his law degree, Ryan worked for several years as an organic chemist and molecular biologist at a biotechnology company.

EDUCATION:

• B.A., Biochemistry and Philosophy, cum laude – Vassar College, 2000
• J.D. – University of Washington School of Law, 2006
• LL.M., Intellectual Property Law and Policy – University of Washington School of Law, 2008

ADMISSIONS:

• Member of the Washington State Bar
• Admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Admitted to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
• Registered Patent Attorney at the United States Patent & Trademark Office

Sam joined Folio Law Group in 2023 and is hoping to gain legal experience while applying to law schools for the 2024-25 academic year. Sam has prior experience working for an independent consultant in antitrust litigation.

Sam has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. In their free time, Sam likes to watch soccer and baseball, go to trivia nights, and watch old movies.

Katherine first came to Folio in 2022 as a summer associate, where she began to learn the ropes of patent litigation. Following law school graduation in May 2023, Katherine has re-joined the Folio team as an associate attorney.

Prior to law school, Katherine worked for several years as a digital strategist at a web development agency in Minneapolis, MN. There, she led more than 15 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) client accounts across various industries. Katherine’s strategist work included working closely with teams of developers to launch new websites, improve user experience, and implement custom tracking, schema markup, and website plug-ins for analytics purposes. Katherine’s data-driven mindset and technical knowledge have led to a track record of successfully managed business strategies for lead generation and brand awareness.

EDUCATION:

Southern Methodist University, B.B.A., Marketing, B.A., Spanish, 2016

University of Washington School of Law, J.D., 2023

Jerica joined Folio Law Group in 2023. Prior to joining Folio, Jerica was a Court Clerk with Natrona County Circuit Court, specializing in small claims and other various civil matters.

In 2021, Jerica received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Wyoming.

In her spare time, Jerica enjoys reading, live music, and spending time with her family.

Matt joined Folio Law Group in 2022 as Operations Manager, Business and Finance. He brings over 20 years of business and leadership experience with him and is focused on daily administrative operation of the firm.

Prior to joining FLG, Matt held positions managing the daily operations of small businesses as well as managing the operations side of higher education. He is a former US Marine and enjoys playing guitar, camping, gardening, and spending time with his family.

Maclain focuses on patent and trademark litigation. He has assisted clients in numerous intellectual property matters, including cases relating to digital video recorders, computer hard drives, LCD panels, software, pharmaceuticals, cancer diagnostics and treatment methods and online business methods. He also has experience in evaluating and licensing intellectual property portfolios.

Education

• University of Colorado Law School (J.D.); Order of the Coif; Seaman Scholar; Galland Scholarship; George Kerr Memorial Scholarship; Colorado Trial Lawyers Association Litigation Award; Business Law Society; Intellectual Property Law Society; Moot Court
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (B.S., Biology, Minor in Chemistry), with distinction

Admissions

• State Bar of California, 2002
• U.S. District Court for the Northern and Central Districts of California
• U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Federal Circuits
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Representative Matters

Optis Wireless Technology LLC et al. v. Apple Inc. (E.D. Tex.) Secured a $506.2 million jury award for PanOptis in a patent infringement suit against Apple involving 4G LTE technology. The jury found Apple infringed claims of the five patents at issue, determined all asserted claims were valid and found Apple’s infringement was willful. The case was the first patent jury trial in the U.S. since the pandemic began.

Juno Therapeutics, Inc. et al. v. Kite Pharma, Inc. (C.D. Cal.). Represented Juno Therapeutics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in declaratory judgment action of patent infringement against Kite Pharma relating to chimeric antigen receptor technology for the treatment of B cell cancers resulting in a judgment exceeding $1 billion.

Immersion v. Apple. Represented Immersion in multipatent action pending before the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The dispute involved several Immersion patents relating to tactile feedback technologies that were asserted against Apple devices. The dispute settled when Immersion entered into settlement and license agreements with Apple, the terms of which are confidential.

TiVo v. Samsung. Represented TiVo in patent infringement against Samsung in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The case involved TiVo’s claims under four patents relating to digital video recording technologies. The dispute settled on favorable terms.

Motorola v. TiVo/TiVo v. Cisco. Represented TiVo in patent litigation over DVR technology against Motorola Mobility and Cisco Systems. On June 6, 2013, shortly before the start of trial, Motorola and Cisco agreed to pay $490 million to TiVo to resolve the litigation.

TiVo v. Verizon. Represented TiVo in a patent infringement suit against Verizon accusing the company of infringing three of TiVo’s DVR technology patents. In September 2012, shortly before trial was scheduled to begin, a settlement was reached in which Verizon agreed to provide TiVo with total compensation worth at least $250.4 million. As part of the settlement, TiVo and Verizon agreed to dismiss all pending litigation between the companies with prejudice. The parties also entered into a cross license of their respective patent portfolios in the advanced television field.

TiVo v. AT&T. Represented TiVo in a suit against AT&T, alleging that AT&T’s U-verse products and services infringed three of TiVo’s patents covering DVR technology. In 2010, AT&T launched a counter-suit in California accusing TiVo DVRs of violating three AT&T patents. In January 2012, just days before a trial on TiVo’s patents, AT&T agreed to pay TiVo a minimum of $215 million, plus additional fees in case AT&T’s DVR subscriber base exceeds certain levels.

TiVo v. EchoStar. Represents TiVo in connection with patent infringement suits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas involving DVR products and services. In May 2011, the court dismissed the case pursuant to TiVo’s settlement with EchoStar under which EchoStar agreed to pay TiVo a total of $500 million.

Koninklijke Philips N.V. v. ZOLL. Part of the Irell & Manella LLP team that secured multiple victories for ZOLL, resulting in settlement on favorable terms.

St. Jude Medical v. Access Closure. Represented St. Jude Medical in a patent case alleging infringement of St. Jude’s patents relating to vascular closure devices. In December 2010, the jury returned a verdict of willful patent infringement and awarded St. Jude $27.1 million in damages, reportedly the largest jury verdict in any area of law in the Western District of Arkansas. The Federal Circuit affirmed the damages judgment on appeal.

LG Display v. Chi Mei Optoelectronics. Represented Chi Mei Optoelectronics in a set of patent litigations involving LCD panel technology.

NXP v. LSI and Agere. Represented LSI and Agere in a set of patent litigations involving semiconductor manufacturing technology and circuit design.

Netcraft v. eBay/PayPal. Represented eBay/PayPal in a patent infringement suit brought by a non-practicing entity. In 2007, eBay/PayPal were awarded summary judgment of noninfringement. In 2008, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling.

AmberWave v. Intel. Represented AmberWave, a company founded by an MIT professor and his students, in a set of patent litigations relating to advanced semiconductor materials and manufacturing processes.

Represented various clients in preparation for litigation, in arbitration and in inter partes review on patents relating to online advertisement generation, online payment methods, nucleic acid therapeutics, genomic testing and more.

Honors & Awards

Named to the Southern California Rising Stars list (2012)

Publications

• “Indefiniteness In Inter Partes Review Proceedings,” Journal of the Patent & Trademark Office Society (March 2016)
• “2015 Patent Reform: Is It Happening?” Westlaw Journal Intellectual Property (October 14, 2015)
• “It’s Finally Time to Modernize Our Patent System,” Los Angeles Daily Journal (July 5, 2011)
• “The Patent Reform Act of 2007: Attempting to Modernize the U.S. Patent System,” Federal Bar Association Newsletter (Winter 2008)
• “Redefining Prior Art Under Proposed Patent Reform Measures,” ALM’s Patent Strategy and Management Journal (June and July 2008)

Alden has over thirteen years of experience litigating high stakes intellectual property cases, with a heavy emphasis on plaintiff-side patent litigation. Alden advises clients ranging in size from startups and emerging companies to multinational corporations on IP matters involving a variety of technologies such as computer security, wireless networking, data transfer and control, and mobile communications. Working closely with engineers, in-house counsel, and high-level executives, Alden counsels clients on case strategy and discovery practices in multiple Federal jurisdictions including the Northern District of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Eastern District of Texas, the Middle District of Florida, and the District of Delaware, as well as in California state court.

Alden has a strong background in patent portfolio analysis, motion and discovery practice, and trials, including working with expert witnesses on highly technical subject matter analyses.

Representative Matters:

Alden represented the largest manufacturer of computational photolithography systems in a trade secret misappropriation action in California state court involving the theft of source code by former employees. Alden helped to obtain a jury verdict in favor of the client manufacturer in excess of $845 million, the highest-ranked intellectual property victory in the United States for 2018 according to the National Law Journal.

Alden represented an upstart computer security company enforcing its patent rights against a larger competitor in the Eastern District of Virginia. The patent case was favorably settled on the eve of trial with the defendant agreeing to pay a running royalty on the accused products. The defendant company was later acquired by a multinational entity, which later breached the settlement agreement, prompting another suit. The later suit was favorably resolved when the Court – one day before trial was set to begin – granted summary judgment on all claims in favor of the plaintiff computer security company, resulting in a total victory.

Alden represented a large national defense contractor in numerous patent enforcement actions against companies in the wireless networking space. Alden was intimately involved in the analysis of defense contractor’s extensive patent portfolio, and in the litigations that followed.

Alden represented the plaintiffs in a patent infringement suit involving broadcast telecommunications technology. The case was ultimately settled favorably for nearly $100 million.

Admissions

• Member of the California State Bar
• United States District Court for the Northern District of California
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

Education

• University of California, Davis, B.S. Computer Engineering, 2003
• Emory University School of Law, J.D., 2008

Alexandra is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer representing clients in all areas of IP litigation, as both plaintiffs and defendants. She has litigated cases in a wide variety of technology areas, including antenna design, semiconductor manufacturing, network hardware, pharmaceuticals, biofuels, and consumer medical electronics. Above all, Alexandra helps clients design intellectual property strategies that further their business goals, such as maximizing the value of intellectual property holdings or preparing to engage with encroaching competitors. Her most recent matters span the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Australia, with a focus on helping international clients navigate the US legal system to enforce intellectual property rights.

EDUCATION

• University of California, Berkeley, B.A., Cognitive Science, 2001
• University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, J.D., 2008, Editorial Board, Journal of Constitutional Law

BAR ADMISSIONS

• California
• New York

COURT ADMISSIONS

• United States District Court for the Northern District of California
• United States District Court for the Central District of California
• United States District Court for the Southern District of California
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Tim has spent more than a decade representing clients both as plaintiff and defendant in patent disputes in venues ranging from United States District Courts to the International Trade Commission.  Tim has brought his legal and technical expertise to bear on disputes involving a wide variety of technical fields such as essential wireless telecommunications standards, computer central processing unit substrates, computer networking, computer graphics processing, computer database searching and management, capacitive touch sensors, aesthetic treatment machines, and oil and gas extraction.

Tim’s approach to practice has often been described as a “relentless” pursuit of the client’s objectives at all stages of a patent dispute. Tim also prides himself in mastering and curating the factual and legal record of a case in order to tell a compelling story at trial while at the same time keeping a careful watch on the client’s business priorities throughout the process.

Pro Bono is also a vital part of Tim’s practice, including assisting more than a dozen victims of domestic violence in obtaining protective orders.  Tim has also served as counsel to the National Homelessness Law Center and as co-counsel with the ACLU of Texas to challenge several Texas ordinances criminalizing homelessness. Finally, Tim has had the privilege of representing disabled veterans in conjunction with the National Veterans Legal Services Program in benefits proceedings before the Boards of Veterans’ Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

 Education

• University of Florida, B.S., Electrical Engineering, 2007, cum laude, Eta Kappa Nu Electrical and Computer Engineering Honor Society
• University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., 2010, cum laude; Editorial Board, Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Bar Admissions

• Texas
• Georgia

Court Admissions

• United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• Supreme Court of the State of Georgia
• Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
• Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia
• Admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Memberships

• The Honorable Lee Yeakel Intellectual Property American Inn of Court, Barrister Member
• The Austin Intellectual Property Law Association, Member

Over his decade-plus legal career, which has spanned both Austin, Texas, and New York City, Joe Abraham has represented technology, financial, real estate, medical device, and pharmaceutical companies in patent and commercial litigation, as both plaintiffs and defendants. In the litigation arena, Joe’s experience spans matters of varying stakes, including all aspects of trial and appellate practice in federal and state courts across the United States, and before domestic and international arbitral tribunals.

Across all these types of matters, certain patterns reoccur: The party that can tell the most compelling story will, all else being equal, come out on top. But how can a litigant be sure to be in position to tell that story? Simply put: By being sufficiently on top of the details to keep adversaries’ distractions at bay, while at the same time not losing sight of the big picture. This also minimizes so-called “wasted efforts,” and keeps the focus on the central themes of the case. Joe takes pride in following this approach for every case he handles.

Joe also believes in the importance of maintaining an active pro bono practice. Over the years this has included service as counsel to the National Homelessness Law Center and as co-counsel with the ACLU of Texas to challenge several Texas ordinances criminalizing homelessness. Joe has also represented disabled veterans, in conjunction with the National Veterans Legal Services Program, in benefits proceedings before the Boards of Veterans’ Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Joe also previously served pro bono as Assistant Counsel to the New York State Commission on Judicial Nomination.

Joe is a member of the Texas State Bar’s Pro Bono College and Defender-level member of the Champion of Justice Society. Joe is also a recipient of Dechert LLP’s Samuel E. Klein Pro Bono Award, and a two-time recipient of The Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Award.

Joe co-authors the Western District of Texas Patent Blog.

Education

• Rice University, B.A., Physics, 1999, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
• New York University School of Law, J.D., 2007, cum laude; Robert McKay Scholar; Jack J. Katz Memorial Award; Executive Editor, Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

Bar Admissions

• Texas
• New York

Court Admissions 

• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Memberships

• The Honorable Lee Yeakel Intellectual Property American Inn of Court, Barrister Member