Overview
Heather E. Takahashi has extensive experience litigating high-stakes patent and technology-related disputes across industries, from pharmaceuticals to computer technology.
She has represented clients in patent matters before the Federal Circuit and district courts nationwide, including in California, Delaware, Texas, and Virginia. A registered patent attorney, she also serves as counsel in post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and advises on intellectual property strategy.
Before law school, Heather earned a master’s degree in molecular biology from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and worked at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Center for Weight Regulation at Oregon Health & Science University and a federal HIV/AIDS clinical trials database.
In her free time, Heather enjoys volunteer work with a multilingual children’s organization in her church.
Experience
Patent Litigation
Technology Patents
Intel in cross-border patent litigation involving programmable logic devices in the Western District of Texas and Tokyo District Court, and as lead counsel in IPR proceedings that resulted in institution on all challenged claims prior to a favorable settlement.
Google in:
- obtaining dismissal and sanctions against a non-practicing entity in the Western District of Texas.
- settling claims of infringement involving Wi-Fi 5 standard technology in its Nest and Pixel products.
- securing a favorable settlement in a patent case in the Eastern District of Texas involving tap-and-pay technology.
Dell in a Western District of Texas case involving a portfolio of Wi-Fi 6 standard-essential patents.
Google and YouTube in a Central District of California case involving five patents related to video compression technology and standards.
Rambus in patent infringement actions relating to DRAM technology.
Pharmaceutical Patents
Takeda Pharmaceuticals in:
- a favorable settlement of patent infringement litigation against three generic drug makers concerning Takeda’s gout medication Colcrys®.
- a judgment of patent infringement and validity against three generic companies seeking to market a generic version of Takeda’s acid reflux medication Dexilant®.
AbbVie, formerly Abbott Laboratories, in:
- the successful defense Abbott’s largest product, Humira®, in a patent-infringement litigation filed by a life sciences company in the District of Massachusetts.
- atch-Waxman patent infringement and antitrust actions involving various pharmaceutical products.
Complex Commercial Litigation
An international law firm in a legal malpractice case challenging the firm’s handling of a failed $90 million patent infringement trial in the Eastern District of Texas. The matter resolved favorably on the eve of trial.
Amgen in obtaining a favorable pre-trial settlement, including a mid-single-digit royalty, resolving a trade secrets dispute against Coherus BioSciences over Neulasta®.
An aerospace company in its successful defense against $7 billion breach of contract, fraud, and tortious interference claims brought by a satellite communications company related to the construction and launch of 12 satellites for a telecommunications network.
More
- Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award from the Los Angeles chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, 2015
- Mentor of the Year, as voted by the associates of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, 2018.
- Representing Noble Prize laureates Thomas Cech and Jack Szostak in an amicus brief filed in support of the University of California in a highly publicized patent dispute between the university and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard involving the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR.
- Member, Federal Circuit Bar Association
- Member, PTAB Bar Association
- Member, Los Angeles Intellectual Property Association
- Member, The Paul R. Michel Intellectual Property American Inn of Court