Steven W. Smyrski is of counsel to Stradling’s Intellectual Property Counseling and Patent practice group.

He has more than 25 years of experience in all phases of intellectual property, including patent prosecution and litigation, technology license drafting and negotiation, enforcement and infringement avoidance strategies, patent portfolio evaluations, infringement/validity analyses, and design around of U.S. patents. He has personally drafted over 350 original U.S. patent applications in such diverse fields as telecommunications hardware and software, semiconductor design, fabrication, and inspection, medical devices, signal processing components, computer hardware and software, neural networks, exercise equipment, and business methods.

Steven has litigated a variety of intellectual property disputes, including asserting and defending over ten patents for a large telecommunications manufacturer, litigating patents covering graphics accelerator chips, and pursuing patent, antitrust, and state law claims against a racing car clutch manufacturer. He acted as lead outside intellectual property counsel in the $950 million acquisition of the printing division of a computer printer manufacturer, regularly renders opinions regarding the scope of certain patents, and counsels parties engaged in patent reexaminations.

Most recently, he acted as counsel of record representing the California Society of Entertainment Lawyers in two amicus briefs filed in support of petitioner Paula Petrella, one in support of her petition for certiorari and another in support of her successful Supreme Court case against MGM (Petrella v. MGM, 572 U.S. 663 (2014)). Steven was personally mentioned in an article published by Variety Magazine relating to his work on this case.

Steven also acted as counsel of record in two other U.S. Supreme Court petitions for certiorari, Kirby v. Marvel Properties, U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 13-1178 (representing Evanier, Morrow, and PEN Center USA), and Shuster v. DC Comics, Supreme Court Case No. 13-1523 (representing the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, et al.). Numerous articles mention his brief in the Kirby case.

Steven previously served as Senior Counsel in the Intellectual Property Group at Pillsbury Winthrop. He began his legal career as an associate at Poms, Smith, Lande & Rose, a patent and intellectual property firm in Los Angeles. Before law school he was an engineer for over eight years for Hughes Aircraft Company and Northrop Corporation.

Credentials

Education
  • Southwestern University School of Law, J.D.
  • University of Southern California, M.S., Electrical Engineering
  • Purdue University, B.S., Mechanical Engineering
  • California
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  • California Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • Central District, CA
  • Northern District, CA
  • Southern District, CA