Irene Yang

Irene Yang is an accomplished intellectual property litigator with a strong foundation in computer science, which she has effectively leveraged in her legal career.

"I have been an IP litigator since day one," she said.

Yang is co-leader of Sidley's IP litigation practice and has more than 15 years of experience, including significant trial and appellate work, representing key clients in the tech and life sciences industries in their patent and complex commercial disputes. Her clients have included Old Republic, Dropbox, Inc., CrowdStrike, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and Nova Labs, among others.

Among her recent work, Yang defended CrowdStrike, in a cybersecurity technology company based in Austin, Texas, in a multidistrict patent litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The plaintiff asserted infringement of eight patents by CrowdStrike's Falcon EDR and XDR products and services. Yang's team played a leading role with the joint defense group and vigorously defended CrowdStrike's interests in court. With the court about to issue a claim construction order, the case settled on favorable terms.

Yang has witnessed the evolution of IP litigation, observing a shift from a predominant focus on patent litigation to a rising prominence of trade secret litigation.

"The increased interest from courts in litigation funding is an interesting trend," she said. "AI, of course. And more of my cases these days involve commercial issues - breach of contract, allegations of fraud, etc. - in addition to straight IP issues."

She also remarked on the significant impact of the TC Heartland decision on the patent litigation landscape, suggesting that the distribution of cases across districts and divisions is a trend worth monitoring. Yang's involvement in Judge James Rodney Gilstrap's first multidistrict litigation, characterized by monthly telephonic status calls, reflects her proactive approach to advancing legal proceedings effectively.

"I thought that was an effective way to move the cases along," she said.