Steven M. Strauss

In his 30 years as a litigator, Strauss says he hasn't lost in court - a highly satisfying track record.

"My favorite part of my job is trying cases," he said. "After 30 years, that's what continues to motivate and energize me."

Since the 1990s, he's been lead litigation counsel for San Diego telecommunications behemoth Qualcomm Inc., which makes digital wireless technology. After successfully defending the company against several class actions arising from the sale of its infrastructure division, Strauss jumped from Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP to Cooley.

"I needed their intellectual property support to do more Qualcomm work," he said. And he's been with Cooley - and Qualcomm - ever since.

In one of the more closely followed disputes involving his client, Strauss worked for Qualcomm on what he called "the largest enforcement action ever tried" before the International Trade Commission. Broadcom Corp. claimed Strauss' client had infringed its patent on a power-saving technology. Qualcomm developed and implemented a so-called "design around" - an alternative noninfringing design - but the ITC entered an exclusion order against the company.

Strauss went to trial before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the parties reached a settlement that he called "favorable" for his client. Kyocera Wireless Corp. et al v. International Trade Commission et al, 2007-1494 (Fed. Cir., Oct. 14, 2008).

This year, he successfully defended Qualcomm against a $150 million lawsuit launched by Transaction Wireless Inc., which alleged that Qualcomm breached a nondisclosure agreement. Transaction Wireless Inc. v. Qualcomm Inc., 37-2009-00104112-CU-BC-CTL (S.D. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 18, 2009).

He also defeated claims launched by Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. Ltd. alleging that Qualcomm had broken a licensing agreement. An arbitrator rejected the claims, and the parties reached a settlement, which involved Panasonic paying Qualcomm a significant amount in previously unpaid royalty revenue from sales of its Wideband-CDMA cellphones.

The technology at issue is incredibly complex for the political science and English literature major, but Strauss said he enjoys the challenge.

"There's nothing like having to take a complicated set of facts and material and make it understandable to a lay jury."

- ERICA E. PHILLIPS

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