Bobbie Wilson is a director and Chair of the IP Litigation practice group who has extensive experience in complex civil litigation primarily in the areas of intellectual property and product liability. Her areas of focus are patent infringement and trade secret litigation, but her passion is trial work no matter the subject matter. She has a particular knack for successfully representing companies and individuals before hostile juries and winning vindication for her clients.

Representative Matters

Representative Trial Experience

Ms. Wilson’s most recent case as lead trial counsel, in a complicated oil and gas case, resulted in a directed verdict for her client after a three-week jury trial. In Advanced Development Holdings, Inc. v. Brea Canon Oil Co., Inc. (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles), the Honorable Judge Joanne O’Donnell, granted BCI’s motion for a directed verdict after the close of all evidence. This trial was the third trial in a span of 10 months where Ms. Wilson served as lead counsel for BCI. Estate of Jack Harry Bennett aka Jack H. Bennett (Cal. Super. Ct., Orange County), April 2008 bench trial; Estate of Jack Harry Bennett aka Jack H. Bennett (Cal. Super. Ct., Orange County), December 2008 bench trial.

Ms. Wilson’s experience also extends to serving as lead trial lawyer when jumping into particularly difficult situations where a jury has already awarded large compensatory damages. For example, in June 2006, after the jury had already found liability and awarded compensatory damages totaling $1,000,000 against a co-defendant, Ms. Wilson came in as new trial counsel and convinced the jury to award only $56.00 total in punitive damages even after they had found liability for national origin discrimination. Issa and Rizkallah v. Roadway Package System, Inc. d/b/a/ RPS Inc., FedEx., d/b/a/FedEx Ground Inc., Stacy Shoun, et al. (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda). That same jury awarded $50 million in total damages against the company which was represented by another law firm. Similarly, in Estate of Mattie Aikens, Deceased and William Aikens v. Charles Oliver, et al. (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda), Ms. Wilson jumped in and convinced a hostile jury to award a nominal amount of punitive damages even after they had already found liability for predatory lending and unfair business practices.

In addition, Ms. Wilson helped lead R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company to its first defense victory in California involving an individual smoking case, Conley v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Phillip Morris, Inc. (N.D. Cal.). After an almost four-week jury trial, the court granted directed verdict for R.J. Reynolds. Prior to this victory, no tobacco company had ever escaped the wrath of a California jury that routinely awarded damages in the tens of millions against the companies.

Representative Patent Infringement Litigation

Nidec Corp. v. Victor Company of Japan, Ltd., et al. (N.D. Cal.)
Ms. Wilson second-chaired the Howard Rice trial team when representing defendant JVC in a patent infringement action involving hard disk drive technology. The action included counterclaim patents asserted by JVC. The case before the Honorable Saundra B. Armstrong settled weeks before trial on terms including a business arrangement between the parties and a patent license.

NTP, Inc. v. Research in Motion, Ltd. (Fed. Cir.; E.D. Va.)
Ms Wilson second chaired the Howard Rice team that defended RIM in the BlackBerry patent infringement litigation on appeal to the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court and on remand in the district court. Ms. Wilson had primary responsibility for gathering and marshalling the evidence required to defeat an injunction. This included numerous interviews with state and federal governmental officials from all over the country. Ms. Wilson also worked closely with engineers and IT employees gathering critical data and other documents.

Technology Licensing Company, Inc. v. Bang & Olufsen America, Inc. (N.D. Cal.)
Ms. Wilson was lead trial lawyer in this case before the Honorable Judge Claudia Wilkin that involved a “troll” suing on a dubious patent related to software and involving DVD technology. Ms. Wilson was able to get rid of the case for a nuisance amount and save the client unnecessary and exorbitant legal fees.

Representative Trade Secrets/Business Torts Litigation

Willard R. Brown v. The American Tobacco Company, Inc., et al. (Cal. Super. Ct., San Diego) The Republic of the Marshall Islands v. The American Tobacco Company, Inc., et al. (High Court, Republic of the Marshall Islands)
Ms. Wilson was part of the team that obtained more than 70 dismissals at the pre-trial stage of state unfair business practices cases under §17200 cases against R.J. Reynolds. Several of the cases were multi-billion-dollar class action cases that were disposed of on summary judgment, never making it to trial.

Adaptec, Inc. v. Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., et al. (Cal. Super. Ct., Santa Clara)
Ms. Wilson was part of the team that represented plaintiff in substantial litigation involving trade secret misappropriation and breach of confidentiality agreement. After expedited discovery and a preliminary injunction were obtained against the defendants, the corporate defendant terminated two individual defendants. Ultimately, the team achieved a favorable financial settlement with the corporate defendant and obtained significant non-monetary relief from all defendants. Following settlement, the client named Howard Rice “Service Provider of the Year.”

Electronics For Imaging, Inc. v. Pegasus Technologies Ltd. (N.D. Cal.)
Ms. Wilson represented EFI in this case where an Israeli company agreed to develop an electronic whiteboard. After multiple failed attempts by Pegasus, EFI developed the technology on its own. After seeking declaratory relief, Pegasus counterclaimed for theft of trade secrets and patent infringement. After depositions in Israel by Ms. Wilson of key witnesses, the case was settled on favorable terms and included a license agreement.

Representative Pro Bono Litigation

Coordinated Proceedings: Marriage Cases (Cal. Supreme Ct.; Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco)
Ms. Wilson was selected as lead pro bono counsel by the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office to represent the City, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Assessor-Recorder Mabel Teng in San Francisco’s civil rights litigation over same-sex marriage. Bill Lockyer v. City & County of San Francisco (Cal. Supreme Ct.); Barbara Lewis, et al. v. Nancy Alfaro as County Clerk etc. (Cal. Supreme Ct.); City and County of San Francisco v. State of California, et al. (Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco). She then helped lead the City of San Francisco to victory before the trial court and the California Supreme Court.

Education

• J.D., Columbia University School of Law (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar; Member, Columbia Business Law Review; Member, Dean's Task Force on Gender Bias), 1990 
• B.A., Queens College (with honors), 1987
  

Admitted

• California state and federal courts
• Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
• Supreme Court of the United States

Memberships

• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• State Bar of California Litigation and Intellectual Property sections
• San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, former director
• American Bar Association, Intellectual Property and Litigation Committee
• Charles Houston Bar Association
• California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP) (Steering Committee Member from 2001-2004)
• Northern District Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit
• Bar Association of San Francisco, Executive Board

Selected Publications

• "Protection, Protection, Protection," ReedLogic’s Patent Leadership Conference (February 2006)
• "Reproductive Health Hazards In The Workplace: Policy Options For California," co-author. This publication is a working guide for the California Legislature as introduced by Senator Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo)

Selected Presentations

• “Damages Law and Policy: Business Role,” IP Counsel Café, Palo Alto, CA (April 2010)
• “Trade Secrets: Identify, Protect, Manage,” Howard Rice CLE Day, San Francisco, CA (January 2010)
• "Proposition 8 and The Supreme Court Ruling," The Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, CA (June 2009)
• "Serving the Same-Sex Marriage Market," ALM Media, Inc./The Recorder (August 2008)
• "Defending Against Willfulness: Where Do Things Stand In A Post-Seagate World?," Litigating Patent Disputes: The Advanced Legal Forum, San Francisco (December 2007)
• "MedImmune, Inc. V. Genentech, Inc.: Has the Supreme Court Opened Pandora's Box?" IP Law & Business Spring Briefing (May 2007)
• "AB 205: Navigating the Landscape of the Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003," American Bar Association Conference (May 2006)
• "Top Partners on Best Practices & Winning Legal Strategies for Managing Patent Portfolios," ReedLogic’s Patent Leadership Conference (February 2006)

Awards & Honors

Ms. Wilson was recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer in 2005, 2006 and 2007 in intellectual property litigation, which published a list of the winners in San Francisco magazine.

Ms. Wilson was recognized in 2005 and 2008 by Mayor Gavin Newsom and the City and County of San Francisco for her work on the Marriage Cases.