Steve Levitan has litigated intellectual property and complex technology cases in courtrooms across the U.S. for more than 30 years. He focuses his practice on patent, trade secret, trademark, and technology contract disputes. He is able to quickly identify the legal strategies that will be most effective to achieve his clients' objectives, and implement those strategies in motion practice, evidence gathering, witness examinations, trial presentations, and settlement negotiations.
Steve has acted as lead counsel in numerous lawsuits. He has first chaired trials and argued appeals, obtaining successful results in actions before federal and state courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitration tribunals. His many wins include damages awards of up to eight figures and preliminary and permanent injunctions on behalf of plaintiffs, and complete dismissal of claims at the pleading stage or on summary judgment or at trial on behalf of defendants.
In addition to his litigation practice, Steve directs internal corporate investigations and acts as a go-to counselor for his clients on corporate policies and best practices for protection of trade secrets and confidential information. He also negotiates intellectual property license agreements, and technology development and transfer agreements.
Steve’s matters often have cross-border components. He has represented national and international clients (many of which are based in Asia) involved in a wide spectrum of technologies, including computer hardware and software, semiconductor device design and manufacture, telecommunications, e-commerce, online stock trading, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cargo straps.
Steve was named a Top Trade Secrets Lawyer in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 by the Daily Journal.
Representative Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Trial counsel for uPI Semiconductor in defense of state and federal court and ITC actions brought by Richtek involving trade secret and patent claims, and power management ICs.
- Counsel for Velodyne Lidar in ITC patent infringement litigation against Ouster, and in defense of Ouster’s state court trade secret complaint, regarding rotating 3-D lidar technology.
- Counsel for LG Electronics in defense of federal court trade secret litigation brought by Alta Devices involving thin film solar technology.
- Counsel for Progressive Insurance in defense of federal court patent litigation brought by OBD Sensor Solutions concerning an on-board device for monitoring and processing motor vehicle operating data.
- Counsel for Vivax-Metrotech in defense of an ITC action involving Radiodetection's allegations of patent infringement regarding underground cable and pipe locators.
- Counsel for USA Products and The Home Depot in defense of a federal court patent infringement case involving cargo straps.
- Counsel for Hon Hai Precision Industry and Foxconn Electronics in defense of ITC patent infringement action brought by Microsoft regarding e-reader handheld devices.
- Trial counsel for Complainant PCTEL in ITC patent litigation against ESS for infringement of patents on HSP modems.
- Counsel for Collective Bias in trademark infringement litigation in the N.D. CA against Badgeville concerning Collective Bias's SOCIAL FABRIC trademark.
- Trial counsel for Claimant WaferMasters in AAA and ICC arbitrations asserting breach of contract in connection with development of semiconductor fabrication equipment.
Professional & Civic Engagement
- Santa Clara County Bar Association, Member
- State Bar of California, Member
Thought Leadership
- Co-Author, “New PAIP Act Requires U.S. President to Annually Report to Congress on Foreign Nationals Involved in the Theft of Trade Secrets from the United States, with Mandatory Sanctions to Follow,” Womble Bond Dickinson Alert, March 9, 2023
- Co-Author, “SCOTUS Ruling Narrows Computer Fraud Law,” Womble Bond Dickinson Alert, June 4, 2021
- Speaker, “The ITC as a forum for trade secret litigation,” Bay Area Chizai Group, March 2021
- Co-Author, “Trade secret protection in China after the US-China phase one trade deal,” Global Trade Magazine, July 10, 2020
- Co- Author, “One-stop shopping: the US and global trade secret remedies,” Managing IP, June 30, 2020
- Co-Author, “Q&A: Arbitrating trade secret disputes,” Financier Worldwide Magazine, January 2020
Honors and Awards
- Named a Top Trade Secrets Lawyer by the Daily Journal, 2020 – 2023
