Stefani E. Shanberg

Intellectual property litigator Shanberg advises high-profile technology companies facing patent challenges. The practice allows her to be engaged and innovative, she said. After a decade at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, Shanberg moved this week to Morrison & Foerster.

While at Wilson Sonsini, she was lead trial counsel for Alphabet Inc.'s Google, BlackBerry Ltd., Lenovo Group Ltd., and Motorola Mobility LLC in a U.S. International Trade Commission investigation involving the Google Play Music application.

Shanberg successfully petitioned the ITC to use its 100-day program to issue an early determination on patent-eligible subject matter. Certain Portable Electronic Devices and Components Thereof, Inv. No. 337-TA-994 (U.S. ITC, May 5, 2016). The program had only been used twice and never for determining a substantive issue of patent law, according to Shanberg.

"It was groundbreaking among ITC investigations," she said.

The ITC ultimately declined to review, and the complainants — Creative Technology Ltd. of Singapore with Creative Labs Inc. of Milpitas — appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Her client roster includes Netflix Inc., Spotify USA Inc., Square Inc., and Symantec Corp.

"IP has always been an area I enjoy because it moves very fast," she said.

Shanberg led a team of patent litigators in Wilson Sonsini's San Francisco office, comprised almost entirely of women.

"I take pride in mentoring," she said. "It gives my work a lot of meaning to help others in their careers. It makes my job fun." She is serving as this year's president of the Washington, D.C.-based International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association, its first West Coast president.

"It's a wonderful group of people, and I'm excited to be leading them this year. It's a real honor," she said.

— Jennifer McEntee