I. Neel Chatterjee

Neel Chatterjee, a litigation and intellectual property partner in the Silicon Valley office, concentrates his practice on complex litigation for technology companies.  Mr. Chatterjee is nationally recognized for his experience in patent litigation, Internet liability litigation, trade secrets litigation and technology transactions litigation.  He has significant experience litigating and trying extremely complex disputes where simplifying difficult technical concepts and effective case management are keys to success.  He has particular experience with Internet and computer software, computer networking and data storage technologies. Below are some examples of the types of cases he has handled.

Internet Liability Cases

• Facebook v. ConnectU, et al.  Mr. Chatterjee litigated claims under the CAN-SPAM act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and related claims related to use of Facebook's service for allegedly unauthorized purposes. 
• Facebook v. StudiVZ.  Mr. Chatterjee is representing Facebook in a complex multinational dispute related to copying of Facebook's graphical user interface. 
• Facebook v. Guerbuez.  Mr. Chatterjee successfully obtained a judgment of more than US$850 million against an individual who used the Facebook Web site for improper purposes and sent false email messages to Facebook users.   
• Butler, et al. v. Adoption.com.  Mr. Chatterjee successfully represented a same sex couple in a dispute with a company operating a Web site service related to adoption that refused to provide its services to the couple.
• Stoner v. eBay.  Mr. Chatterjee successfully defended eBay against claims that the company was unlawfully selling, offering for sale, advertising for sale and causing the sale of illegal sound recordings in violation of three California Penal Code provisions.  eBay successfully asserted that the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. section 230, immunized eBay from liability from plaintiff’s claims.
• eBay v. Sheaffer.  Mr. Chatterjee obtained a preliminary injunction under California Penal Code section 502(c) related to unlawful trespass to eBay's computer system.
• EMI, et al. v. VideoEgg, et al.  Mr. Chatterjee is currently representing VideoEgg in a copyright infringement dispute related to sound recordings in music videos allegedly stored on a video hosting service. 

Patent Cases

• Fotomedia c. AOL LLC, et al.  Mr. Chatterjee is currently representing AOL and Photobucket in several patent infringement disputes related to online photosharing technologies.
• Rambus, Inc. v. Nvidia Corporation.  Mr. Chatterjee is currently representing Nvidia in a 15-patent case, antitrust case, and nine-patent investigation before the International Trade Commission related to memory controllers and DRAM memory that adhere to industry standards.    
• Collaboration Properties, Inc. v. Tandberg, Inc. and Tandberg ASA.  Mr. Chatterjee represented Tandberg, Inc. and Tandberg ASA in several patent infringement disputes related to videoconferencing technologies.
• Financial Systems Technology, PTY, et al. v. Oracle Corporation (pending).  Mr. Chatterjee is currently defending Oracle in a two-patent dispute related to database technology.
• Hewlett-Packard v. EMC Corporation.  Mr. Chatterjee represented EMC Corporation in a 13-patent dispute with Hewlett-Packard.  The case ultimately settled with Hewlett-Packard paying EMC Corporation approximately US$325 million.
• Network Caching Technology LLC. v. Inktomi Corporation.  Mr. Chatterjee defended Inktomi in a four-patent case brought by Network Caching Technology, Inc.  In the case, Mr. Chatterjee successfully narrowed the case and obtained rulings of first impression related to the Northern District of California Patent Local Rules.
• Teknowledge v. Inktomi; Teknowledge v. Yahoo.  Mr. Chatterjee defended Inktomi and Inktomi's acquirer, Yahoo, in patent litigation related to Internet infrastructure technologies.  After successfully obtaining a finding of invalidity as to one of the asserted claims, the case settled.
• Papst Licensing Ltd. v. Quantum Corporation. Mr. Chatterjee defended Quantum and Maxtor Corporation in a 10-year-long multi-district patent action, where the plaintiff accused Quantum of infringing 26 patents related to hard disk drive motor technology.
• Storage Technology Corporation v. EMC Corporation.  Mr. Chatterjee successfully defended EMC against Storage Technology Corporation's assertions of patent infringement related to "virtual tape" technology. By asserting a license defense, the case was resolved in favor of EMC by bench trial in eight months and was affirmed at the Federal Circuit approximately one year later.
• Nortel Networks v. Foundry Networks.  Mr. Chatterjee represented Foundry Networks in a six-patent case involving computer networking technology.
• Enterasys Networks v. Foundry Networks.  Mr. Chatterjee is currently representing Foundry in an ongoing multi-patent dispute related to computer networking technology.     

Trade Secret Cases

• ConnectU et al. v. Facebook, et al.  Mr. Chatterjee is currently representing Facebook and numerous individuals in a complex dispute (and a dispute with respect to a settlement reached between the parties) associated with the founding of the Facebook Web site. 
• Quantum Corporation v. Imation Corporation.  Mr. Chatterjee successfully sought and obtained a preliminary injunction against Imation based upon a claim of misappropriation of trade secrets.  The injunction was obtained within 23 days of filing the complaint.
• KLA-Tencor v. Rigg, et. al.  Mr. Chatterjee successfully defended Philip Rigg and Rigg Systems, Inc. against a preliminary injunction motion asserting a theory of "inevitable disclosure of trade secrets," as well as other theories.
• RockYou, Inc. v. Blake Commagere.  Mr. Chatterjee litigated a case against a former consultant to RockYou in a dispute related to certain Facebook gaming applications.
• Iconix Corp. v. NetPickle, et al.  Mr. Chatterjee represented NetPickle and its founders in a dispute related to the founding of the company wherein Iconix accused the founders of misappropriating technology. 

Technology Transactions Cases

• Inxight, Inc. v. Verity, Inc.  Mr. Chatterjee litigated a series of cases on behalf of Inxight related to licensing of software between two companies.  After Inxight prevailed at trial on one of the disputes, all of the disputes settled.

Mr. Chatterjee engages in significant pro bono work, including work for the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley (as a mediator), the Santa Clara Superior Court (as a Judge Pro Tem and mediator) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.  Mr. Chatterjee recently concluded a three-year term as a lawyer representative to the Northern District of California.  He is a past president of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and a current board member of that organization and the California Bar Foundation.  He also served on the Patent Local Rules Committee of the Northern District of California.   

He has spoken and published nationally on a number of Internet liability issues.  He also has spoken nationally on enforcing and defending patent claims and on the intersection of unfair competition and intellectual property law.  He has numerous published articles related to Internet liability issues, computer animation, business method patents and criminal trade secrets law.  He has been recognized by Chambers as a Top Lawyer under the age of 40, and also as a California "Super Lawyer."

Admitted in

• California

Court Admissions

• Northern District of California
• Central District of California
• Southern District of California
• Eastern District of Texas

Memberships

• State Bar of California
• Bar Association of San Francisco, Past Board Member
• Intellectual Property Inns of Court
• Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Former President, Current Member of the Board
• California Bar Foundation, Member of the Board

Multimedia

Publications

• Co-Author, "Ninth Circuit Holds Forum Selection Clause Designating 'Courts Of' A Particular State Does Not Include Federal District Courts in the State," Orrick Client Alert, January 28, 2009.
• Co-Author, “Federal Circuit Confirms That Previously-Cited References May Be Used In Subsequent Reexamination Proceedings,” Orrick Client Alert, September 24, 2008.
• Author, “Appellate Court Narrows Immunity of Web Site Services under the CDA,” Orrick Client Alert, April 23, 2008.
• Co-Author, "No Getting Around It: Courts Begin to Rule Against Acts of Circumvention," The National Law Journal, October 2000.
• Author, "Digital Millennium Copyright Act: A New Balance for a New Era," The Journal of Proprietary Rights, November 2000.
• Author, "Admitting Computer Animations: More Caution and New Approach Are Needed," Defense Counsel Journal, January 1995.
• Author, "Imperishable Intellectual Creations: The Limits of the First Sale Doctrine," Court Review, Winter 1995.
• Author, "Should Trade Secret Appropriation be Criminalized?" Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal, 1997.