Stefani E. Shanberg

Shanberg credits her rise as one of California’s top IP litigators to a bit of serendipity. When she joined Palo Alto-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC in 1999, Shanberg was tasked with helping the firm deal with the then-rising dot-com boom.

“I don’t have a technical background,” she said. “But I’ve always had a knack for translating technical concepts into language that normal human beings can understand. That’s very important for judges and juries.”

Now at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco, Shanberg leads a team of more than 30 lawyers and works with some of the world’s largest tech companies, including online retailer Amazon.com Inc., streaming music site Spotify USA Inc. and software giant Symantec Corp. That technical acumen was hard-earned, Shanberg says, and it garnered some big wins this past year.

Recently, Symantec hired Shanberg to defend it against Palo Atlo-based CUPP Cybersecurity, where she cited TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, and won a venue change from Texas to California. The case is still pending. CUPP Cybersecurity LLC et. al. v. Symantec Corporation, 19-CV00298 (N.D. Cal., filed June 14 2018).

Earlier this year, she won a dismissal of a patent infringement case against Spotify on what came to be called “Section 101 Day,” where Chief U.S. District Judge Leonard P. Stark heard several cases based on Section 101 of the Patent Act covering ineligible material. MOAEC Technologies, LLC v. Spotify USA Inc. 18-CV00377 (D. Delaware, filed March 9, 2018).

“It was an interesting example of the court looking for creative ways to resolve cases efficiently,” Shanberg said. “It was very useful for everyone to be so focused on this issue.”

The cases Shanberg argues, in both the district courts and before the U.S. International Trade Commission, sustain her drive to push further in her career. She takes inspiration both from her clients and working in Bay Area, where she’s practiced for 20 years.

“It’s the place where I’ve been able to be myself and still have this career that I think would perhaps be more difficult in other parts of the country,” she said.

Mentoring also plays a big role in her work, Shanberg said. Since joining Morrison & Foerster in 2017, she’s become a mentor to many of the firm’s young women associates, a role she played while at Wilson Sonsini.

“Having those relationships expand to people who were at Morrison & Foerster has been fantastic,” she said. “It makes me feel like I’m been able to have an impact and make a difference.”

— Glenn Jeffers