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Libby Moulton

Partner

San Francisco

Silicon Valley

Libby’s practice focuses on the role of embedded appellate counsel in high stakes patent trials.  Libby has taken six cases through jury verdict and dozens of cases through pretrial filings.  She also leads post-trial briefing and appeal teams and has presented five appellate arguments.  Libby uses her past experience as a patent examiner, district court clerk, and Federal Circuit clerk to help clients with their most important high-tech cases.

Libby joins trial teams--both within and outside of Orrick--and takes the role of legal strategist and brief writer. She has experience handling all pretrial filings, from early motions to dismiss to post-verdict motions for judgment as a matter of law. Libby excels at managing strategy around Daubert motions, jury instructions, and mid-trial briefing. Before trial, Libby develops strategies for raising and preserving legal issues. At trial, Libby handles mid-trial motions, the charge conference, and pocket briefing as needed. After trial, she manages the post-trial briefing and transitions the case to appeal. While most of her experience is in patent litigation, she has also served as appellate counsel in tort and employment cases. More than half of Libby's cases involve co-counsel outside of Orrick, where she quickly develops productive and collaborative relationships with outside litigation teams.

In addition to her trial work, Libby maintains a robust appellate practice. Libby leads appellate briefing and has presented oral arguments in the Federal Circuit, Ninth Circuit, and New York Appellate Division. Libby also has an active pro bono practice, including representing the Arizona Federal Public Defender’s Office in an ongoing administrative challenge to capital habeas proceedings.

Libby has experience in multiple jurisdictions, including courts in Delaware, Texas, California (state and federal), and Massachusetts; the ITC; and appeals to the Federal Circuit, Ninth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, DC Circuit, California Court of Appeal, New York Appellate Division, and US Supreme Court.

Prior to joining Orrick, Libby served as a law clerk to Judge Raymond C. Clevenger III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and to Judge Ronald M. Whyte of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before law school, Libby was a patent examiner in the medical device area at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

    • Sonos v. Google (ND Cal, ITC, and Federal Circuit) - Represents Sonos in ongoing patent litigation against Google.
    • IGT v. Zynga (WD Tex. and Federal Circuit) - Represents Zynga as appellate counsel at trial and at the Federal Circuit.  Achieved a complete defense verdict and multiple wins at the PTAB. 
    • NCAA concussion litigation (national) - Represents the NCAA in concussion/CTE cases, including serving as appellate counsel in Gee v. NCAA, securing defense verdict in first concussion case to reach a full trial in the U.S. and Finnerty v. NCAA, securing defense verdict in second concussion case to go to trial in the U.S.
    • Broadcom v Netflix (ND Cal) - Represents Netflix as appellate counsel in on-going patent litigation brought by Broadcom. 
    • Egenera v Cisco (D. Mass. and Federal Circuit) - Represents Cisco as appellate counsel, securing a noninfringement verdict at trial and defending the verdict on appeal. 
    • Idenix Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (D. Del. and Federal Circuit) – In this blockbuster patent case, Orrick helped persuade a federal district court to wipe out a $2.54 billion damages verdict—the largest patent verdict in history—and then defended that win on appeal. Following a long-running patent dispute and trial over Gilead’s blockbuster Hepatitis C drugs, a jury awarded Idenix $2.54 billion. The Orrick team came in to assist on post-verdict motions, which led the judge to hold Idenix’s patent to be invalid as a matter of law and to wipe out the jury’s damages award. Orrick took the lead on appeal, where it persuaded the Federal Circuit to affirm the judgment of lack of enablement, and additionally to order judgment as a matter of law that Idenix’s patents also lacked written description.
    • Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. v. 10x Genomics Inc. (D. Del and Federal Circuit) – Represented 10x as appellate counsel, assisting trial team with defense of patent infringement claims against 10x’s groundbreaking microfluidics platform.
    • IP Bridge v. global semiconductor manufacturing company (W.D. Tex.) – Represents global semiconductor manufacturing company as appellate counsel in a four-patent case, assisting trial team with pretrial filings including jury instructions, verdict forms, motions in limine, and trial briefs in defense of patent infringement claims against global semiconductor manufacturing company’s DRAM chips. The case is currently pending.
    • Plexxikon v. Novartis (N.D. Cal.) – Represents Plexxikon as appellate counsel on post-trial motions defending a $178 million infringement verdict on an anti-cancer drug. The case settled favorably after appellate briefing and before oral argument. 
    • Finjan v Cisco (N.D. Cal.) – Represented Cisco as appellate counsel in a four-patent case, assisting trial team with pretrial filings including jury instructions, verdict forms, motions in limine, and trial briefs in a defense of patent infringement claims against Cisco’s network security products. The case settled favorably.
    • BBiTV v. DISH (W.D. Tex.) – Represented DISH as appellate counsel in a three-patent case, assisting trial team with pretrial filings including jury instructions, verdict forms, motions in limine, and trial briefs in defense of patent infringement claims. The case settled favorably.
    • Synopsys, Inc. v. Mentor Graphics Corp. (Supreme Court) – Represented Synopsys on a petition for a writ of certiorari challenging the Federal Circuit’s assignor estoppel and lost profits doctrines.
    • EMC Corporation v. Clouding Corp. (Federal Circuit) – Represented EMC (now part of Dell) in an appeal involving artificial intelligence patents. The Orrick team secured a win in the Federal Circuit, which vacated and remanded a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling.
    • PPC Broadband v. Corning Optical Communications RF LLC (Federal Circuit) – Represented Corning in appeal challenging $60 million patent infringement verdict in litigation involving coaxial cable connectors.
    • Bayer CropScience AG v. Dow AgroSciences LLC (Federal Circuit) – Represented DAS in its appeal from the Eastern District of Virginia’s affirmance of an arbitration award of based on patents relating to genetic resistance to the herbicide glufosinate.
    • Align Technologies v. Clear Correct (S.D. Tex) – Represented Clear Correct as appellate counsel, assisting trial team with defense of patent infringement claims against Clear Correct’s invisible orthodontic aligners. The case settled favorably.
    • Blasdell v. Space Exploration Technologies (Cal. App.) – Represented SpaceX on appeal, successfully defending a jury verdict in favor of SpaceX in an individual employee's action alleging whistleblower retaliation.
    • Diana Juan v. UC Regents (9th Circuit) – Briefed and presented oral argument for the Regents of the University of California on appeal, successfully defending a favorable motion to dismiss claims under the False Claims Act.
    • Dr. Pinter-Brown v. UC Regents (Cal. App.) – Represents the Regents of the University of California on appeal and on retrial of adverse jury verdict on employment claims.

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