One of those trials was Realtek Semiconductor Corporation v. LSI Corporation, et al. (N.D. Cal. 2014), where Chris presented the sole company witness for Realtek at trial and the jury awarded $3.8 million based on his testimony.  This case also resulted in the first U.S. jury verdict to set a reasonable and nondiscriminatory (“RAND”) royalty rate for declared standard essential patents (“SEPs”), believed then to be the lowest such rate for a WiFi declared SEP.  Chris was also on the trial and appellate teams in Ericsson v. D-Link, et al. (E.D.Tex. 2013), which resulted in the seminal Federal Circuit opinion on RAND damages, Ericsson v. D-Link, 773 F.3d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 2014), and a complete victory for the defendants after appeal and a parallel inter partes review proceeding wiped out the remaining patents.

Chris also serves as the firm’s expert in the Section 101 patent defense and has eliminated tens of millions of dollars in potential damages exposure faced by our clients by invalidating patents under Section 101, often at the pleading stage.  One recent victory is University of Florida Research Foundation v. General Electric Co., 916 F.3d 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2019), which she briefed at the district court, argued on 48 hours’ notice from the court, then briefed on appeal.  Law 360 dubbed this decision one of the Federal Circuit’s “most significant patent rulings since the beginning of 2019.” For more information please also visit Law360.com.

While her practice focuses on patent litigation, Chris also handles trade secret, unfair competition, trademark, copyright, and complex commercial disputes. Chris’ trial experience includes not only patent cases, but also breach of contract, fraud, and even criminal prosecution matters.

Chris is also deeply committed to the advancement of women and serves as the Chair of Reed Smith’s Women’s Initiative Network in San Francisco. She also founded her own company “Women’s Era” to continue to empower women in law and beyond.