Andrea Weiss Jeffries

Jones Day

Los Angeles

Patent litigation

Armed with a chemistry degree, Jeffries tends to gravitate towards cases that involve life sciences, biotechnology and of course, chemistry.

Her background helped her in a case where she represented Sloan Kettering Institute and exclusive licensee Juno Therapeutics in winning $752 million in trial, for infringement by Kite Pharma in the making and selling of its cancer treatment, a CAR-T therapy.

Kite Pharma claimed the Certificate of Correction of the patent was invalid and also that the patent was invalid for lack of enablement and lack of adequate written description.

A challenge Jeffries faced in the case was to make the complex issue understandable for everyone in the courtroom.

"I feel that you can only explain something well if you understand it. Now that does not mean that I could go out and create the cancer therapy that's at the subject of that case, of course," Jeffries said. "But I do my very best to really dig in and understand the technology involved. It is important to be mindful of the technology as I develop the best strategy for the case."

At the end of last year, a Central District of California jury unanimously found that Kite willfully infringed the patent and awarded Sloan Kettering and Juno the damages sought. Juno Therapeutics Inc. v. Kite Pharma Inc., 17-CV07639 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 18, 2017).

Jeffries' practice also involves complex technology cases, which she said she enjoys. In a different patent infringement case focused on electronics, Jeffries and her team obtained a favorable claim construction ruling for their client. Rohde and Schwarz GmbH and Co. KG v. Tektronix Inc., 18-CV02402 (C.D. Cal., filed March 23, 2018).

The lawsuit involved test and measurement devices known as oscilloscopes which are often used to measure a signal that might be coming off of an electronic device, Jeffries explained.

"In particular on this case, it was important to explain the key aspects of what the patent was all about," Jeffries said. "It was really important to make sure that we were proposing claim constructions with words that would accurately capture the technology concepts in the patent."

Jeffries, who comes from a family of science teachers, views herself as a science teacher in the courtroom.

"It's very enjoyable to me to really deeply learn and understand a subject matter and then teach it to other people in a way that helps them understand why my client should win," she said.

"I would say that I feel really proud of my track record and I feel like I'm constantly learning from my experiences and improving my leadership of cases and my adaptability in cases the way I think through issues," she added.

-- Henrik Nilsson