Stefani Shanberg

Although she has been recognized by the Daily Journal as a top Intellectual Property lawyer for the past twelve years, Stefani Shanberg would rather extol her fellow attorneys at Perkins Coie international law firm in San Francisco, where she moved her team, her cases, and her clients in December 2022.

Citing “an incredible entrepreneurial culture” at the renowned technology firm, Shanberg said, “I recently pulled in an appellate team to help draft an important brief, and I was just blown away by the quality of the work. I really have a ton of respect for the team here, and I’m excited to have merged my team with the existing team over here.”

As an adviser to some of the top technology companies in America, Shanberg has successfully litigated intellectual property cases throughout the nation, including 100 cases in the Northern District of California, often serving as the lead counsel representing Amazon.

She highlights a current, ongoing case in which she is the lead counsel representing Amazon and Twitch against BSD Crown Ltd., which alleges patent infringement for livestreaming technology. BSD Crown, Ltd. v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al, 3:23-cv-00057 (N.D. Cal, filed Jan. 5, 2023).

“It’s an interesting case for a host of reasons, the most significant of which is that it’s pending in the Northern District of California, and that’s kind of unusual these days,” she said, noting that the number of patent cases in California has decreased while the number of patent cases in Texas has risen.

She is particularly excited to be working with judges in the Northern District of California on the Patent Rules Committee as they assemble a supplemental case management checklist for cases that are transferred from other courts. The checklist requires parties to seek a case management conference before the judge so that he or she will know what transpired during litigation in the prior court.

Since 2019, Shanberg has also served as a volunteer mediator and early neutral evaluator for the Northern District of California Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Program.

“I really enjoy that part of my practice as it allows me to help the courts relieve pressure on their dockets,” she said. “I think that being neutral in these cases also makes me a better litigator because it helps me to see things from both sides and from different perspectives.”

—Kathryn Stelmach Artuso