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Chris R. Ottenweller

Senior Counsel

Silicon Valley

Mr. Chris Ottenweller, a partner in the Silicon Valley office, is a member of the Intellectual Property group. His practice focuses on patents, copyrights, trade secrets and complex technology disputes.

Chris has served as first-chair counsel in more than 75 cases, successfully resolving virtually every one of them; and has tried many cases to judgment, in all types of forums, including jury trials, bench trials, the ITC and arbitrations. His cases involve cutting-edge legal issues and run the full gamut of technologies, including data storage, mobile devices, semiconductors, computers, graphical user interfaces, flash memory and many other technologies.
 
Chris has been recognized by clients, peers, and multiple publications as a leading lawyer in the IP field. He has been honored by The National Law Journal as one of "50 Intellectual Property Trailblazers and Pioneers," by IP Law360 as an Intellectual Property MVP, by Managing Intellectual Property as an "IP Star," by Chambers USA as a Leading Attorney in Intellectual Property, and by The Daily Journal as one of the "Top 75 IP Litigators" in California. A number of his victories have been profiled by The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The National Law Journal and National Public Radio.

  • The following is a list of some of his current and past representative cases:

    • BIAX v. NVIDIA and Sony (D. Colo.). Chris was lead counsel for NVIDIA in a patent infringement action accusing NVIDIA’s graphical processing units (GPUs). The Orrick team obtained summary judgment of non-infringement, which was affirmed by the Federal Circuit.
    • Fast Memory Erase LLC v. Intel Corp. (N.D. Texas). Chris represented Intel, Numonyx, a global semiconductor manufacturing company and Sony Ericsson in this patent infringement action filed by an Acacia subsidiary attacking flash memory products. The Orrick team obtained a summary judgment of non-infringement.
    • Hewlett-Packard Co. v. EMC Corp. (N.D. Cal.). Chris represented EMC against Hewlett-Packard in patent litigation relating to a variety of technologies, including data storage, computers, servers and printers. EMC asserted multiple patents in a counterclaim for infringement. After Markman and summary judgment proceedings, the case settled with HP agreeing to pay EMC US$400 million, one of the largest patent settlements on record. EMC paid nothing.
    • Oasis Research LLC v. EMC Corp. (EDTX) Chris was lead counsel for EMC in a jury trial in Sherman, Texas, in which the jury returned a verdict in favor of EMC invalidating all asserted patents. After the district court vacated the verdict on post-trial motions, the case settled.
    • Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Acer Computer (ITC; EDTX). Chris represented Acer Computer in an ITC Section 337 action and two Federal Court actions brought by Hewlett-Packard alleging infringement of multiple patents.
    • Silvaco v. Intel (Santa Clara County Superior Court). Chris was lead counsel for Intel in a successful trade secrets lawsuit that generated widespread interest in the industry and within legal circles. Silvaco, a supplier of CAD software, sued Intel and other semiconductor manufacturers accusing them of trade secret misappropriation by using software purchased from a vendor who Silvaco accused of stealing source code. The California Court of Appeal decision in Intel's favor, reported at 184 Cal. App. 4th 210, is widely cited for its precedent-setting ruling.