Keeley I. Vega

REDWOOD CITY - Keeley I. Vega is a patent litigator who loves litigation. "I love learning who my clients are, what's important to them, what is make-or-break for their business and then making that my problem," she said.

She also really loves the adversarial side of litigation. "I love being an advocate," Vega said. "I'm super competitive. I always have been, whether it's miniature golf or Monopoly or patent litigation, I love to fight and I love to win."

She demonstrated that love in a patent infringement lawsuit she and colleagues brought on behalf of client Natera against a would-be competitor. The six patents related to Natera's method of noninvasive prenatal testing using simple maternal blood samples. Vega served as the day-to-day lead on the case, drafted filings and argued disputes.

The case settled a year ago when the competitor simply agreed to stop sales of its accused products and leave the industry entirely. Natera Inc. v. Progenity Inc., 6:20-cv-00532 (W.D. Tex., filed June 17, 2020).

"We were very pleased with the result," she said. Vega won a couple of important early victories in an ongoing lawsuit she is defending for cell biology company Berkeley Lights Inc. First, she won a motion to move the case from Delaware to San Francisco. Then, she convinced the judge to require the plaintiff to cut the number of patents it was asserting from 15 to no more than four. AbCellera Biologics Inc. et al v. Berkeley Lights Inc., 4:20-cv-08624 (N.D. Cal., Sept. 16, 2020).

In many cases, she said, winning does not require fighting to the death. "Sometimes it's about giving up, so you don't lose, where you preserve your stamina for other issues," Vega said. "That's something I think about a lot."

By recognizing what really matters in a case and to the client, "you can give up ground because it will mean you can get more leverage in more important areas," she explained.

Even so, when Vega does settle cases for her clients, she gets good ones.

For instance, in an infringement and trademark action she and a partner filed on behalf of the maker of Invisalign clear braces, she first won an injunction protecting the trademarks and then quickly obtained a highly favorable settlement in which the defendant agreed to stop selling its competing products. Align Technology Inc. v. Strauss Diamond Instruments Inc., 3:19-cv-00892 (M.D. Fla., filed July 31, 2019).

And in fall 2020, she and a partner brought in a very favorable settlement for a German prosthetics maker that specializes in arms and hands. It's lawsuit alleged a competitor that focuses on legs had infringed patents covering extremely tiny motors. Vincent Systems GMBH v. Össur Americas Inc., 8-19-cv-02157 (C.D. Cal., filed Nov. 8, 2019).

Vega is currently handling a very different case through the Federal Pro Bono Project in San Francisco. She represents a former Safeway clerk who was denied accommodation after developing disabilities. Trial is set for October.

In her spare time, Vega also teaches a required class in critical lawyering skills to first-year Santa Clara University School of Law students. "It's a class on soft skills," she said, like professional development, dealing with conflict, networking and how to talk to clients."