Lisa Kobialka

Managing Partner, Disputes, US
Managing Partner
Silicon Valley
Lisa Kobialka has been at the forefront of some of the most challenging trials in different venues across the country and has handled more than 250 litigations.

Lisa has counseled and represented both plaintiffs and defendants in complex business and intellectual property litigation — including more than 45 trials and evidentiary hearings in numerous jurisdictions across the United States — involving claims for patent infringement, complex business disputes, trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, unfair competition and trademark infringement.

Lisa represents clients in a variety of different industries, with a particular emphasis on energy, networking, cybersecurity, semiconductors, and pharmaceutical industries. Recently, she successfully represented a defendant in a shareholder dispute that went to trial in Virginia state court. In 2024, she also obtained a jury verdict of $151.5 million in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for infringement of network security patents and a $23.5 million and separately, a $30 million jury verdict in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware on some networking patents.

Benchmark Litigation named Lisa a Litigation Star in 2022 and 2023 and one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation for 2021. In 2017, Daily Journal recognized her as a Top IP Lawyer in California, and The Recorder named Lisa to its Women Leaders in Tech Law annual list. Silicon Valley Business Journal presented her with the 2016 Women of Influence Award. Managing Intellectual Property named Lisa California Litigator of the Year in 2016, Patent Star and Trademark Star from 2015 through 2019, and one of the Top 250 Women in IP in its 2021 and 2018 editions of IP Stars.

Experience & capabilities

Selected matters

  • Secured a $151.5 million verdict for Centripetal Networks Inc. in a patent infringement trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

  • Obtained a non-suit on behalf of a client in a breach of contract and financial tort dispute in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia.

  • Represented a computer network security company asserting patent infringement in the Eastern District of Virginia, resulting in a judgment of over $2 billion in damages.

  • Obtained a favorable jury verdict of infringement for Finjan Inc., a Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity company, in a multipatent infringement suit against Sophos Inc.

  • Obtained a favorable settlement for Finjan Inc., a Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity company, in a patent suit against Proofpoint Inc., just three weeks before a scheduled trial.

  • Obtained a favorable settlement for Prism Technologies in a complex, high-stakes patent suit against AT&T Mobility, just hours before closing arguments in the seven-day trial.

  • Obtained a favorable settlement for MRC Global Inc., the largest North American distributor of pipe, valves and fittings to the energy industry, in a Lanham Act action brought by a manufacturer of bearings regarding the use of the MRC mark, just hours before opening statements.

  • Obtained a favorable jury verdict of infringement for Prism Technologies in a complex, high-stakes patent suit against Sprint, regarding patents developed by Prism related to technologies that enable access to data services on mobile devices.

  • Obtained a favorable jury verdict of infringement for Finjan, a Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity company, against Blue Coat Systems in patent infringement litigation involving the company’s proprietary real-time, behavior-based threat detection and prevention technology.

  • Obtained in evidentiary bankruptcy proceedings a valuation of a multipatent dispute involving semiconductor packaging, permitting the semiconductor company to petition for confirmation of a plan of reorganization.

  • Obtained a jury verdict of willful infringement in a multipatent dispute involving network security technology and a defense verdict of noninfringement on counterclaims of patent infringement on software patents, which were upheld on appeal before the Federal Circuit.

  • Obtained a determination of invalidity of a patent involving network communications.

  • Obtained a summary judgment of noninfringement of a patent involving steel equipment and handled the successful appeal, affirming the trial court’s decision.

  • Obtained a jury verdict of willful infringement of patents involving hematopoietic stem cells.

  • Successfully defended trade secret misappropriation claims involving enterprise software at a bench trial.

  • Obtained a favorable settlement at trial while representing a plaintiff in a trademark infringement, unfair competition and breach of contract dispute.

  • Obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction involving recycling companies in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in a trademark infringement dispute.

  • Obtained a jury verdict on a claim of patent infringement involving mass flow controller equipment for semiconductor manufacturing.

Sectors

Background

Education

  • J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law, 1997
  • M.M., San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 1993
  • B.A., University of California, Davis, 1992

Bar Admissions

  • California, 1997

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S.C.A., Federal Circuit
  • U.S.C.A., 9th Circuit
  • U.S.D.C., Central District of California
  • U.S.D.C., Eastern District of California
  • U.S.D.C., Northern District of California
  • U.S.D.C., Southern District of California

Professional Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
  • American IP Association
  • California Bar Association
  • Japanese American Bar Association — Lifetime member
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
  • Women’s Intellectual Property Law Association