Intellectual property litigator Schwartz had to learn about a completely unfamiliar legal practice this year. The unexpected twist came after the Jones Day partner represented Synopsys Inc., a Mountain View-based developer of software tools used for designing computer chips, in successful litigation against competitor ATopTech Inc.
Synopsys secured a $30.4 million copyright infringement jury verdict against Santa Clara-based ATopTech in San Francisco federal court in March 2016. Schwartz and her legal team also fought off ATopTech's equitable estoppel defense in a July bench trial before U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney.
The judge issued a permanent injunction in December against ATopTech products found to infringe Synopsys copyrights. Synopsys Inc. v. ATopTech Inc., 13-2965 (N.D. Cal., filed June 26, 2013).
Before Schwartz and Synopsys could try its patent infringement claims, ATopTech filed for Chapter 11 protection. Synopsys is ATopTech's largest unsecured creditor following last year's jury verdict, so Schwartz continues to represent her client while ATopTech seeks a buyer.
"I did not think I would be intimately involved in a bankruptcy proceeding," Schwartz said.
"There are some issues in terms of dealing with assets that were found to infringe copyrights [held by Synopsys]," Schwartz continued. "We want to prevent the transfer of those assets to any other entity."
Schwartz began her career as an engineer at Bell Labs when the company was under AT&T Inc. There, she worked with patent prosecutors to protect video conferencing technology and software she had developed. Intrigued by the legal work, Schwartz took law school classes in the evenings while balancing work and starting a family. As she gained more legal experience, she focused more on litigation because she enjoyed collaborating with colleagues and clients on challenging disputes.
"These kinds of big cases are some of the most interesting, not only because of their complicated coordination issues but also because of their novel legal issues," Schwartz said.
— Kevin Lee
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