Overview
Cheryl is an intellectual property litigator and appellate advocate who guides technology companies through IP conflicts from early dispute resolution to full litigation. She represents clients in patent, trademark, trade secret, and unfair competition matters before federal courts and the USPTO.
An electrical engineer and former U.S. Air Force officer, Cheryl brings technical insight, strategic precision, and disciplined advocacy to every case. Her experience spans a wide range of technologies and products, including consumer electronics, computer software, medical devices, integrated circuits, communication networks and devices, beverages, and clothing.
Education
- The George Washington University Law School (J.D., 2006), with honors, Member, Moot Court Board
- Boston University (B.S. Electrical Engineering, 1997), magna cum laude, Commander Air University Blue Chip Award (top 15% ROTC graduating class)
Representative Experience
Applied Medical Resources Corp. v. Medtronic, Inc. (C.D. Cal.)
Represents Applied Medical in a high-stakes antitrust trial involving alleged anticompetitive bundling and exclusive dealing. Applied alleged that Medtronic monopolized the market for advanced bipolar devices used to seal blood vessels during surgery. Following a nearly three-week trial, the jury returned a $381 million verdict and found violations of the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and California Cartwright Act.
Amazon.com Inc. v. Hammond Development International, Inc. (PTAB)
Represented Amazon in inter partes reviews against a family of eight patents directed to technology for enabling a communication device to remotely execute an application. Hammond asserted the eight patents in the W.D. Texas against the Amazon Alexa platform and devices. The IPRs were voluntarily dismissed after successfully obtaining a covenant not to sue on all asserted patents after the IPR proceedings were substantially complete.
Advanced Cluster Systems, Inc. v. NVIDIA Corporation (DDE)
Represented Advanced Cluster Systems in a patent infringement lawsuit related to groundbreaking systems and methods to improve parallel programming and supercomputing functionality. Advanced Cluster Systems asserted five patents against NVIDIA’s NVLink direct GPU-to-GPU interconnect architecture. Obtained a favorable settlement of the case prior to trial.
Taoglas Group Holdings Limited et al v. 2J Antennas USA, Corporation et al (SD Cal.)
Represented Taoglas in a misappropriation of trade secrets and patent infringement lawsuit related to wireless antenna technology. Obtained a favorable settlement of the case prior to claim construction.
Signify North America Corporation f/k/a Philips Lighting North America Corporation et al v. Axis Lighting Inc. (S.D. NY)
Represented Axis in a patent infringement lawsuit. Signify asserted three patents against Axis Lighting’s LED lighting devices. Obtained a favorable settlement of the case prior to claim construction.
TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. v. Cassidian Communications, Inc. et al. (E.D. Tex.).
Represented Cassidian Communications, Inc. and Airbus DS Communications, Inc. in patent infringement action relating to voice over internet protocol and emergency services patents. TCS asserted three patents against Defendants’ next generation 9-1-1 call handling solutions. Obtained a favorable settlement of the case prior to claim construction.
SoftVault Systems, Inc. v. Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp. (N.D. Cal.)
Represented Dassault Systemes SolidWorks in patent infringement action relating to embedded, automated, component-level control of computer systems and other complex systems. SoftVault asserted two patents against SolidWorks’ software product activation features. Obtained a favorable settlement of the case prior to trial.
Recognition
Awards & Honors
- Selected as a winner of Profiles In Diversity Journal’s 2023 “Veteran Leadership Award”
- Recipient of the 2019 Federal Circuit Bar Association George Hutchinson Committee Award
- Recipient of the 2018 Federal Circuit Bar Association George Hutchinson Committee Award
- Named a “Southern California Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine for her work in intellectual property litigation (2014-2017)
- Named one of the “Top Women Attorneys in Southern California” in a survey of her peers published in Los Angeles magazine (2014, 2015)
Affiliations
- Howard T. Markey American Inn of Court (former President)
- Federal Circuit Bar Association
- International Bar Association (North American Regional Forum)
News & Insights
Articles
Author, “Supreme Changes for ‘Single-Use’ Patent Law,” Medical Product Outsourcing (January 2018)
Contributor, Federal Circuit Judges Disagree Over Contours of Section 101, Knobbe Martens Section 101 Blog (November 2016)
Contributor, Amazon Defeats Appistry’s Distributed Computing Patents With Finding of Patent Ineligibility, Knobbe Martens Section 101 Blog (September 2016)
Speeches & Seminars
Moderator, “Federal Judge Patent Practice Tips and Tricks,” Howard T. Markey Inn of Court (March 2023)
Presenter, “Digital Health and Digital Therapeutics,” Howard T. Markey Inn of Court (May 2022)
Presenter, “Privilege Pitfalls for the IP Practitioner,” Howard T. Markey Inn of Court (April 2021)
Presenter, “Direct Examination Best Practices,” Howard T. Markey Inn of Court (April 2019)
Speaker, Patent Resources Group Advanced Courses: Federal Circuit Law, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (April 2017)
Speaker, Patent Resources Group Advanced Courses: Federal Circuit Law, San Antonio, TX (Oct. 2016)
Speaker, “The UPC – where are we now?” at the “Around the Tables”– A taste of hot topics in the Intellectual property, Communications and Technology Section, International Bar Association Conference (October 2017)
Speaker, “Alice: Down the Rabbit Hole” at the “Around the Tables”– A taste of hot topics in the Intellectual property, Communications and Technology Section, International Bar Association Conference (September 2016)
Speaker, “Weekly Appellate Report Podcast,” Daily Journal (June 2016)
Speaker, “Patent Local Rules,” Howard T. Markey Inn of Court (November 2015)
Panel member, “Inter Partes Review Strategy and Practice,” Howard T. Markey Inn of Court (October 2014)
Moderator, “Design Patent Litigation – The Next Frontier,” AIPLA Patent Litigation Committee Online Education Subcommittee sponsored event
