Alyssa M. Caridis 

Perhaps Alyssa M. Caridis’ career as a top patent attorney was foreordained by the patents hanging on the walls of her father and grandfather’s factory. “I grew up learning about IP, knowing what patents were, worrying about lawsuits, about my family’s ideas being used by others,” she said.

She earned a general engineering degree from Harvey Mudd College, but patent law was always her goal. “My bread-and-butter is patent. It’s what I decided I wanted to do when I was 16 years old, and I haven’t really looked back.”

Now, she is the co-leader of Orrick’s global IP litigation practice, a post she earned after only six years as a partner.

For three of those years, she has been deep in what she called “the international, multifaceted Sonos versus Google patent dispute.” She and co-counsel represent Sonos, Inc., which makes multiroom speaker systems. Their client has scored victories at the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Last month, a San Francisco federal jury hit Google with a $32.5 million verdict for infringing one of two Sonos patents after a three-week trial. Sonos, Inc. v. Google LLC, 3:20-cv-06754 (N.D. Cal., filed Sept. 28, 2020).

Other branches of the long-running fight are pending at the ITC and the Federal Circuit.

Caridis has another trial coming up for a different client in October. She represents the mobile gaming company Zynga, which is being sued by video poker and slot-machine maker IGT. She said it’s an interesting case because the plaintiff is not a nonpracticing entity like most of her opponents. “While they’re not necessarily competitors in the traditional sense … they’re still an actual company that makes things,” she said. IGT v. Zynga Inc., 6:21-cv-00331 (W.D. Tex., filed April 6, 2021).

Caridis became a leader of her firm’s IP group after a stint as managing partner of its L.A. office. Beginning in 2021, she oversaw the design, build out and move into new office space.

It was designed to be “the new normal” for Big Law offices, she said. “It’s a much more hip, nontraditional space than we were used to.”

The design is meant “to reflect our own Los Angeles vibe,” with murals by a local artist in the lobby and community-focused art on the walls. All the attorney offices are the same size and assigned only temporarily using a “hoteling model.”

“I think it really suits us well. People are excited to come into the office now,” she said.

Now, she and her IP group co-lead are meeting with all their associates one by one, along with each associate’s assigned mentor. They learn associates’ goals and respond with suggestions on their career growth.

As for her own career, Caridis is glad she is a patent lawyer. “When I made partner, I had this moment of reflection, ‘I’m glad this all worked out because I never really had a plan B.’”

— Don DeBenedictis