Bita Rahebi

Bita Rahebi is co-chair of the global intellectual property litigation group at Morrison & Foerster LLP, co-chair of its cross-disciplinary IP group and co-leader of its semiconductor industry group. She has been at the firm since 2000.

"I started as a summer associate, and I found I really enjoyed IP law -- it is analytically very interesting to me," Rahebi said.

Last year, the well-regarded IP boutique Durie Tangri LLP joined Morrison & Foerster. "That was definitely a major firm effort, and the integration has gone very well," Rahebi said. Under her leadership, MoFo was named Intellectual Property Firm of the Year in 2023 by Chambers North America.

Rahebi was born in Iran and emigrated to the U.S. with her parents in 1979. "I was a quiet child, which helps when you don't speak English," she said. "I really got into STEM subjects in high school, especially math. Again, when you don't speak English, math is the universal language."

Without naming current client names, Rahebi discussed trends.

"I'm seeing more cases involving standard essential patents," she said, referring to key inventions that come with certain licensing guidelines from standard-setting organizations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

In one such case, Rahebi represents a semiconductor company that sold certain standard essential patents and is now involved in disputes relating to infringement actions filed by the purchasing entity.

Rahebi also works on damages claims for clients. In one recent case, she managed to reduce the damages award sought by the plaintiff by 80%.

In a case she can identify, Rahebi obtained a rare permanent injunction for her medical device client Nevro Corp. after a rival infringed its spinal cord stimulation therapy patents. The rival agreed to cease commercialization of its product. In a ruling, the judge referred to the deposition Rahebi took of the defendant's CEO, Laura Perryman. The deponent's testimony was combative, dismissive and "patently false," the judge wrote. Nevro Corp. v. Stimwave Technologies Inc., 1:19-cv-00325 (D. Del., filed Feb. 14, 2019).

"She is an example of people who should not be in the marketplace," Rahebi said.

Active in the IP Bar, Rahebi is a past president of the Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association, where she co-founded LAIPLA's Women in IP Committee. She is also a founding member of the Lead Counsel Summit. Created in 2023, the program is an intensive training initiative created by a group of prominent women intellectual property lawyers to address the first-chair imbalance in patent cases.

"We're looking to get female lawyers into lead counsel positions," Rahebi said.

-- John Roemer