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Alyssa Caridis

Partner

Los Angeles

Santa Monica

Co-chair of Orrick’s 100-lawyer Intellectual Property litigation practice, Alyssa focuses on complex patent and copyright trials and also counsels on open source licensing and IP.

Alyssa represents companies in all stages of litigation — from pre-suit investigation, through trial, and on to appeals court. In 2023 alone, she was a key member of Orrick teams that won two jury verdicts, three ITC proceedings, and numerous IPRs and dispositive motions.

She draws upon her engineering degree from Harvey Mudd College to engage with technical professionals and quickly grasp new technologies. She brings experience with technologies ranging from medical devices, streaming media systems and software to projects in the aerospace, automotive, and nuclear energy industries.  She also has experience in litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act, successfully defending generic challenges to patents protecting blockbuster medical therapies.  Most recently, Alyssa has been involved in both litigation and counseling involving the legal questions raised by the rapid growth of AI.

The Daily Journal recognized Alyssa as one of the Top Women Lawyers in California in 2023 and both Bloomberg Law and Daily Journal named her to their 40 Under 40 lists.

For Alyssa, IP protection is more than business; it’s personal. For more than a half-century, her family patented mechanical technologies that they developed into a thriving business, inspiring her love of science and technology as well as her desire to protect innovative ideas. Alyssa calls Southern California home, but remains loyal to the sports teams of her Bay Area childhood.

  • The following is a sample of Alyssa's notable cases.

    • Zynga v. IGT (W.D. Tex.) Alyssa co-lead the team that defended Zynga in patent ligation brought by gambling technology company IGT. In what was initially a six-patent case that was whittled down pre-trial, jurors found that Zynga’s casino slot games, including Game of Thrones and Hit it Rich, did not infringe IGT’s last patent standing. Furthermore, jurors found IGT’s patent was invalid due to obviousness.
    • In the Matter of Certain Audio Players and Components Thereof (I and II) (ITC) Alyssa’s team won an order from the ITC, which found that Google infringed five Sonos patents and barred the importation of violating products, including Google’s Nest audio speakers and Pixel phones. This was Google’s first loss in the ITC. As a result, every asserted claim survived, and every Google product accused in the complaint was found to infringe. The ITC’s importation ban covers not only Nest speakers, displays, streaming and connectivity products, but also the Pixel phones that control them.
    • Google v. Sonos (N.D. Cal.) Alyssa co-lead the team representing Sonos in defensive patent litigation against Google in the Northern District of California in front of Judge Chen. Orrick invalidated one of Google’s patents on a Section 101 motion, and negotiated the dismissal of another after a successful claim construction. Two other patents were dropped from the case after Orrick invalidated them in IPRs. Orrick secured a summary judgment of no infringement of the remaining patent.
    • Hatch-Waxman Litigation (D. Del.) Represented a major pharmaceutical company in an ANDA action involving challenges by multiple generic companies to patents protecting a blockbuster four-drug fixed-dose combination for the treatment of HIV infection.
    • In the Matter of Certain Audio Players and Controllers, Components Thereof, and Products Containing Same (ITC) Alyssa was a member of the team representing Sonos in an investigation brought to the International Trade Commission by Google, asserting Sonos infringed three patents. The Commission found there was no violation of any of the asserted patents, handing Sonos a complete defense victory.
    • Sonos v. Google (N.D. Cal.) Alyssa was a member of the team tried an offensive patent case against Google in the Northern District of California. This case resulted in the jury awarding Sonos over $30 million in damages.
    • IBM v. Zynga (D. Del.) Alyssa is representing Zynga and its subsidiary company Chartboost against patent infringement claims brought by IBM in the District of Delaware. IBM has asserted four patents against dozens of Zynga games, Zynga’s website, and Chartboost’s ad campaign platform. The Court granted Zynga’s partial motion to dismiss, finding that one of the patents was invalid under section 101.
    • BBiTV v. DISH (W.D. Tex.) Alyssa was a member of the team that reached a highly favorable settlement for Altice USA against patent infringement claims brought by BBiTV.
    • IOENGINE v. PayPal (D. Del.) Alyssa is a member of the team that is defending PayPal against IOENGINE, who twice previously litigated one of its patents to multi-million-dollar jury verdicts, against patent infringement claims.
    • Personalized Media Communications v. Netflix (E.D. Tex. / S.D.N.Y.) Alyssa is defending Netflix in a patent infringement action filed by Personalized Media Communications (PMC). The suit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas but, following a hard-fought venue dispute, was transferred to the Southern District of New York. Based on claim construction, PMC was forced to drop two of the asserted patents. The case was ultimately dismissed in light of a parallel proceeding finding that PMC committed portfolio-wide inequitable conduct.
    • Finjan v. Check Point (N.D. Cal.) Alyssa was a member of the team that successfully represented Check Point in a high-stakes multi-patent case brought by Finjan, which had won large verdicts from several of Check Point’s competitors on some of the same asserted patents. We aggressively defended Check Point by challenging the sufficiency of Finjan’s infringement contentions early in this case. We successfully dismantled Finjan’s contentions to the point that Finjan ultimately unilaterally dismissed their case with prejudice.
    • EMC Corp v. Pure Storage, Inc. (D. Del.) Alyssa represented plaintiff EMC in a patent infringement lawsuit against its competitor, Pure Storage. Alyssa directed the infringement and validity case of two asserted patents through expert discovery. EMC obtained summary judgment of infringement of one of those patents. A jury awarded EMC $14 million in damages after trial.
    • Blue Spike LLC v. Audible Magic Corp. (E.D. Tex.) Alyssa was a member of a team that successfully defended Audible Magic Corporation in a patent infringement action brought by Blue Spike LLC. Audible Magic obtained summary judgment of noninfringement for all asserted patents.
    • Oasis Research LLC v. EMC Corp. Alyssa was a member of a team representing EMC Corporation in a patent infringement action brought by Oasis Research, LLC. After a week-long trial, an Eastern District of Texas jury found that all of the patents asserted against EMC were invalid.
    • Canon U.S.A. Multimedia Patent Trust v. Canon U.S.A., Inc. (S.D. Cal.) Alyssa was a member of a team that successfully defended Canon in a patent infringement action involving four patents directed to video compression. Obtained summary judgment of noninfringement in Canon's favor. Panavision Imaging, LLC v. Canon U.S.A., Inc., et al. (C.D. Cal.). Alyssa was a member of a team that successfully defended Canon USA Inc. in a patent infringement involving patents directed to image sensors used in digital SLR cameras and camcorders. California Institute of Technology v. Canon Inc. and Canon U.S.A., Inc. (C.D. Cal.). Alyssa was a member of a team that defended Canon in a Los Angeles infringement action involving 11 patents relating to image sensors in digital cameras.