Steptoe & Johnson has expanded to Palo Alto with the acquisition of a prominent intellectual property litigation group led by Bill Abrams. Abrams is joined by IP partner Sanjeet Dutta in Palo Alto and Boyd Cloern in Washington, DC. All are formerly partners with King & Spalding.
Bill Abrams has tried to verdict and arbitration award and argued appeals in many IP and other business disputes in U.S. and international matters during his 30 years of experience. Chambers USA reports that clients describe Abrams as “a wizard of the patent bar” and a “courageous litigator who understands both the broader picture and the social context surrounding issues.” Abrams was named a California Lawyer of the Year by California Lawyer magazine in 2010, one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal in 2010 and one of the Top 75 IP Lawyers by the Daily Journal in 2010 – 2012. He is also recognized in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers.
Sanj Dutta’s practice focuses on patent litigation, patent prosecution, licensing agreements and IP diligence and audits. Dutta has litigated in state and federal courts and before the International Trade Commission.His areas of technology expertise include mobile devices, payment systems, geothermal energy, processor architecture, semiconductor memories, semiconductor verification/emulation, semiconductor processing and manufacturing, network routing, caching, cable modem termination systems (CMTS), Cable and Satellite Interactive Programming Guides, Bluetooth protocol, compiler design, video signal processing, and storage area networks.
Boyd Cloern focuses on intellectual property and antitrust matters. His intellectual property work has a particular focus on the automotive industry where he has litigated patent cases involving fuel injection systems, engine combustion processes, tire pressure monitoring systems, infotainment systems, side impact systems, occupant sensing systems, four-wheel drive systems and accelerometers. Cloern has also litigated patent cases in the defense, telecommunications, consumer products, semiconductor, and medical devices industries. He also litigates trade secret and copyright disputes and counsels clients on patent, copyright, and licensing issues, including open source.