Jeannine Sano has nearly thirty years of experience trying cases in patent venues across the country in various technology fields, including mobile communications, video processing, graphics, operating systems, CPUs, chipsets, memory, LCD manufacturing, and medical devices.
She has tried cases in the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas, Northern District of Illinois, Middle District of Florida, and the Northern District of California, in addition to handling investigations before the United States International Trade Commission, IPRs and CBMs before the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and appeals before the Federal Circuit. Jeannine has also presented oral argument before the California Court of Appeal on an issue of first impression on the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, resulting in affirmance of summary judgment and an award of attorneys' fees.
Jeannine previously served in the ABA IP Law Section Leadership as Chair of the Patent Litigation Committee and Chair of the ITC Committee and was selected as an Early Neutral Evaluator for the Northern District of California. She has also been a guest instructor for Notre Dame Law School's trial advocacy program and a judge for the mock trial and patent law programs at Stanford Law School.
Professional Activities
- Stanford Alumni Association
- Women Lawyers of the Eastern District of Texas Advisory Committee
- ITC Trial Lawyers Association
- Federal Bar Association
- ChIPs Silicon Valley/Texas Chapters
Representative Matters
• In the Matter of Certain UMTS and LTE Cellular Communication Modules and Products Containing Same
Final determination of no violation on behalf of Thales DIS AIS Deutschland, Thales DIS AIS USA, Thales USA, and Thales S.A. based on non-infringement and invalidity of all asserted patents involving UMTS/LTE standards and mobile communication modules
• Applied Materials v. Ocean Semiconductor (PTAB)
Final written decisions of unpatentability of all challenged claims in four IPRs
• VideoShare v. YouTube et al. (Delaware)
Obtained judgment of invalidity of all asserted patents involving video uploading/publishing, affirmed by Federal Circuit
• American Imaging Services v. Autodesk (N.D. Texas)
Complete defense jury verdict of non-infringement of all asserted claims and invalidity on all asserted grounds in patent litigation involving CAD software
• In the Matter of Certain Liquid Crystal Display Devices, Including Monitors, Televisions, and Modules, and Components Thereof
Obtained final determination of no violation as to all patents asserted by Thomson (formerly Technicolor) on behalf of Respondents Chimei InnoLux, InnoLux, and Chi Mei Optoelectronics USA in Section 337 Investigation, affirmed by Federal Circuit
• In the Matter of Certain Electronic Devices, Including Mobile Phones and Tablet Computers, and Components Thereof
Obtained initial determination of no violation as to intervened patents asserted by Nokia against HTC
• In the Matter of Certain CMOS Active Pixel Image Sensors and Products Containing Same
Resolved 337 Investigation and corresponding district court litigation on behalf of Respondent OmniVision involving patents asserted by California Institute of Technology
• Uniloc Luxembourg S.A. et al. v. Amazon.com et al. (E.D. Texas)
Obtained judgment of invalidity of digital streaming patent; affirmed by Federal Circuit
• Coffelt v. NVIDIA et al. (C.D. California)
Obtained judgment of invalidity of computer graphics software patent and denial of Rule 59 motion, affirmed by Federal Circuit; plaintiff’s Cert Petition to Supreme Court denied
• Walker Digital v. Google (Delaware; PTAB)
Obtained judgment of invalidity of all asserted patents accusing social networking products, plus award of all requested costs following contested motion
• Microtune v. Broadcom (E.D. Texas)
Resolved patent dispute involving RF tuners after jury verdict pending Federal Circuit appeal
• Boston Univ. v. Lite-On et al. (D. Mass.)
Judgment following rejected Rule 68 offer that was fraction of plaintiff’s settlement demand (plaintiff’s cross-appeal dismissed as moot)
• Mobile Internet Technologies v. E-LOAN et al. (M.D. Florida)
Prevailed in bench trial in trade secret litigation involving on-line financing technology; plaintiff's appeal dismissed
• Audio DigitalImaging v. Samsung (N.D. Illinois)
Resolved dispute involving MPEG2 technology following bench trial
• Target Therapeutics v. Micrus (California)
Obtained injunction in trade secret misappropriation action involving surgical coil for minimally invasive treatment of aneurysms
• Glue-Fold v. Slautterback et al. (California)
Obtained summary judgment plus award of attorneys’ fees in trade secret litigation involving adhesive manufacturing technology, affirmed on appeal
Honors
- Benchmark Litigation – California Litigation Star: Intellectual Property (2022 - 2023)
- World's Leading Patent Professionals 2015 – 2022, IAM Patent 1000
- Northern California SuperLawyers, Intellectual Property, 2004 – 2022, San Francisco Magazine
- IP Stars 2014 – 2023, Managing IP
- Named to "Women Worth Watching 2020" by Profiles in Diversity Journal
- Top Women Attorneys in Northern California, 2018 – 2019; 2021 – 2022, San Francisco Magazine
- Top Attorneys in Northern California 2020, San Francisco Magazine
- Top 50 Women Lawyers 2016, National Diversity Council
- Top Intellectual Property Litigators 2014, Daily Journal
- Top 250 Women in IP 2013, Managing IP
- Client Service All-Star 2012, BTI Consulting
-
Intellectual Property, California (Band 3) 2008, Chambers USA
- Top 75 Women Litigators 2007, Daily Journal
- Member, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation (elected 2006)
- Top 50 Women Lawyers 2004, California Super Lawyers
- Prominent Alumni of the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 125 Years of California Law, Daily Journal
News
- Managing IP STARS Selected Axinn IP Partner Jeannine Yoo Sano as a 2023 Patent Star in CA
- Axinn Scores Multiple IPR Victories on Behalf of Applied Materials
- Axinn Partners Ranked as Litigation Stars in the 2023 Edition of Benchmark Litigation
- Commission Affirms Axinn’s ITC Victory for Thales
- Axinn and IP Partners Ranked by IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals
- View More ›
Thought Leadership
- USPTO’s ANPRM Sets the Stage for Latest Revamp of the Discretionary Denial Process, IPWatchdog, May 7, 2023
- Axinn IP Update: Federal Circuit Confirms That Prosecution Disclaimer Is Not Binding on the Patent Office in an Ongoing PTAB Proceeding But Will Bind Future Proceedings, November 18, 2022
- American Axle Denied: Patent Stakeholders Sound Off on SCOTUS’ Refusal to Deal With Eligibility, IPWatchdog, July 4, 2022
- SCOTUS Refuses to Hear Patent Eligibility Case, World Intellectual Property Review, July 1, 2022
- Patent Cases to Watch in 2022, Law360, January 3, 2022
- What to Know About Judge Stark, Biden's New Fed. Circ. Pick, Law360, November 3, 2021
- Federal Circuit Sends Fitbit v. Valencell Back to PTAB for Second Look at Three Omitted Claims, BioWorld, July 15, 2020
Events
Education
- JD – University of California, Hastings College of Law (1994)
- AB, with Honors, Human Biology – Stanford University (1989)
Admissions
- California
- District of Columbia
- New York
- Illinois
- US District Court Central District of California
- US District Court Eastern District of California
- US District Court Northern District of California
- US District Court Southern District of California
- US District Court Northern District of Illinois
- US District Court Southern District of New York
- US District Court Eastern District of Texas
- US District Court Western District of Texas
- US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- US Supreme Court
Spotlight
"She belongs in court...an extraordinary trial lawyer"
"Sano knows how to make a major impact in any forum, including the ITC and PTAB, and has many notable successes to show for it."
– World’s Leading Patent Professionals IAM Patent 1000