Annette L. Hurst

Hurst represents Oracle Corp. in the upcoming retrial of its mega-showdown over claims Google Inc. illegally copied Oracle's Java software platform to build its Android operating system. She came on as part of Oracle's appellate team after the first trial went Google's way, helping persuade the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to strike an initial ruling that the software was not copyrightable.

"It'll be the World Series of IP," Hurst said. "We open May 9 in San Francisco before Judge [William] Alsup [of the Northern District]. I can't wait."

"The facts are just so juicy," Hurst added. "It's a big part of Silicon Valley history, and copyright is my sweet spot. I'm so excited."

Hurst has a history of successful retrials. She represented MGA Entertainment Inc. in its high-stakes winning Central District IP rematch with Mattel Inc. over Bratz and Barbie. As in the Oracle-Google litigation, she appeared before a demanding judge who starts early and runs a tight courtroom. Alsup is known for convening his court at 7:30 a.m. "That's nothing for me," Hurst said. "Judge [David O.] Carter had us in earlier than that in the Barbie rematch. I have been to judge boot camp."

For client Dish Network LLC, Hurst faced a different judge, Dolly M. Gee of the Central District. At issue were Fox Broadcasting Company's claims that Dish's commercial-skipping and time-shifting features on its Hopper DVR were illegal. The networks claimed the device was a threat to the "entire TV ecosystem." Hurst devised her defense tactics on the spot in court, she said, when "Judge Gee jokingly told us at a pretrial hearing that she never watches TV and wasn't much of a tech maven."

"For us, it was a total opportunity to be the teacher, to clarify what can be a very technical area of copyright law. We cut out all the doctrines and tried to be very authentic and credible in our approach."

Gee paid attention, Hurst said. "She displayed a ready familiarity with the tech concepts once we explained them," Hurst said. "The other side took a hard-boiled advocacy approach." In a summary judgment ruling unsealed in early 2015, Gee gutted Fox's copyright claims. "We just had to translate the technology," Hurst said.

? John Roemer