Alan A. Limbach is a patent litigation and prosecution partner in our Silicon Valley office. He concentrates on the procurement, enforcement, licensing and opinions for patents involving semiconductor, mechanical, medical, optical, electro-optical, and electronic inventions, with an emphasis on semiconductor manufacturing technologies and designs, LED design and applications, laser ophthalmic surgical devices and procedures, computer systems and related architecture and components, and medical devices and procedures.

Before beginning his legal career, Mr. Limbach was an applications engineer with Coherent, Inc., specializing in the design and characterization of solid state, dye and gas laser systems.

Recent Patent Litigation Matters

• Hewlett-Packard v. Acer – United States International Trade Commission and United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas. Represented HP in asserting claims of patent infringement involving patents covering the structure and operation of read-only memory, central processors and graphics controllers for notebook and desktop computer systems. Obtained favorable settlement after ITC trial before issuance of Initial Determination.
• Hynix Semiconductor v. Toshiba Corporation – United States International Trade Commission. Represented Toshiba against claims of patent infringement involving NAND flash memory manufacturing techniques. In the ALJ’s initial determination, both patents-in-suit were found not infringed and unenforceable due to inequitable conduct, and that Hynix failed to prove it had a domestic industry.
• Hewlett-Packard v. Gateway – United States International Trade Commission and United States District Court, Southern District of California. Represented HP in asserting claims of patent infringement involving notebook computers. Obtained favorable settlement of $47 million after claim construction hearings in both cases.
• Rackable Systems, Inc. v. Super Micro Computers, Inc. – United States District Court, Northern District of California. Represented Super Micro against claims of patent infringement involving server systems. Obtained favorable settlement after key patent claims were held invalid in claims construction proceedings.
• USA Products Group v. Eurow Corporation et al. – United States District Court, Northern District of California. Represented USA Products Group in asserting claims of patent infringement involving automobile seat covers. Obtained favorable settlement early in proceedings.
• Rae Systems Inc. v. Ion Science LTD et al. – United States District Court, Northern District of California. Represented Rae Systems in asserting claims of patent infringement involving photo-ionization detectors. Obtained favorable settlement early in proceedings.