Attorneys

Summers Law Group staffs each matter according to the individual needs of each case in order to achieve the most effective and efficient result. Our team of lawyers consists of experienced litigators and technical experts working together to zealously advocate on behalf of our clients.

Teresa M. Summers represents clients in intellectual property, regulatory, and commercial matters, including litigation, licensing, contracts, FDA regulatory matters, and counseling.  She has specialized expertise in appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, District Court litigation, proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, ANDA litigation, and International Trade Commission Section 337 litigation.  Ms. Summers also advises pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device clients on issues related to product development, approval, and compliance with Food and Drug Administration regulations.  Her practice spans many industries, including biomedical sciences, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, telecommunications, consumer electronics, and cybersecurity.

Prior to establishing Summers Law Group, Ms. Summers litigated intellectual property-related cases at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where she worked in several offices, including in the Washington DC, San Francisco and Tokyo offices of Morrison & Foerster.

Before joining Morrison & Foerster LLP, Ms. Summers served as a law clerk to the Honorable Richard Linn of the Federal Circuit. She remains involved in Federal Circuit activities, including assisting the judges in Conferences in Japan, and Europe on U.S. IP rights.  Ms. Summers helped to establish the Tokyo IP American Inn of Court, the first Inn of Court based in Japan and the first American Inn of Court based outside of the U.S. For her role in the creation of the Tokyo IP American Inn of Court, Ms. Summers received a Distinguished Service Medal by the Linn Inn Alliance.  Ms. Summers is also an officer of The Naples Roundtable, an organization dedicated to strengthening and improving the patent system, and is a regular speaker at the Leahy Institute of Advanced Patent Studies, an annual conference sponsored by The Naples Roundtable.

Ms. Summers received her B.S. in biology/biomedical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude. During law school, she was active and published in the Georgetown Law Journal, admitted to the Order of the Coif, and received the Leon Robbin Patent Award, ABA/BNA Award for Excellence in Intellectual Property Law, and the Cali Award.

Education

Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.) (2003) (magna cum laude; Order of the Coif, Law Journal)

University of California, San Diego (B.S., Biomedical Engineering)

Experience

Hogan Lovells, Washington (formerly Hogan & Hartson) (2003-2005)

Law Clerk to the Honorable Richard Linn of the Federal Circuit (2005-2007)

Morrison & Foerster, Washington, Tokyo, and San Francisco (2007-2014)

Summers Law Group, Washington (2014-present)

Representative Matters

District Court and Court of International Trade Litigation

• • BASF plant Science, et al. v. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, et al. (Eastern District of Virginia). Co-lead counsel representing patentee in multi-party patent infringement case involving plant biotechnology.  The case involved numerous depositions of fact and expert witnesses, pre-trial hearings and a jury trial lasting over 3 weeks.  The jury returned a favorable infringement verdict and the case is now in the post-trial phase.
  • In re Protegrity Patent Litigation (Northern District of California). Lead counsel defending cloud computing security and data protection software company in multidistrict patent infringement matter involving numerous international co-defendants.  Managed all operations of the case, including all client and counsel communications, case filings and motions, discovery, witness examination, and oral argument.  Successfully resulted in highly successful settlement prior to trial.
  • Certain Digital Televisions and Certain Products Containing Same and Methods of Using Same (International Trade Commission, 337-TA-617; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Represented Osaka-based Funai Electric Co., Ltd. in an ITC action filed against 14 importers of digital televisions. Managed all operations of the case from inception through trial and appeal.  Responsibilities included strategy, pleadings and all subsequent filings and motions, international fact discovery, depositions across the globe, expert discovery, forensic product testing, settlement negotiations, trial preparations, oral argument, and witness examination at trial.  The case resulted in favorable exclusion orders and cease and desist orders against the respondents.

Inter Partes Review Proceedings

• • Samsung v. UUSI (Patent Trial and Appeal Board). Lead counsel representing patent owner, manufacturer of telecommunications and touch screen devices, in inter partes review proceeding.  Served as first chair, managed case strategy, drafted filings, examined experts, and led oral argument.  Successfully defended the patent on all challenged claims and on all issues.
  • AM General v. UUSI (Patent Trial and Appeal Board). Lead counsel representing patent owner, manufacturer of glow plugs and glow plug controllers in three different inter partes review proceedings.  Served as first chair, managed case strategy, drafted filings, examined experts, and led oral argument.  Case settled favorably.
  • Nuseed Americas v. BASF (Patent Trial and Appeal Board).  Co-lead counsel representing petitioner in inter partes review proceedings related to the production of omega 3 fatty acids.  Served as second chair.
  • InnoPharma v. AstraZeneca (Patent Trial and Appeal Board).  Represented petitioner in four inter partes review proceedings related to breast cancer therapy.  Worked with a large team due to the complexity and overall size of these four IPRs.  Managed all responsibilities for expert and conducted numerous depositions.

Appellate Cases

• In re: Varma and InvestPic LLC v. IBM (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Co-lead counsel representing inventor in appeals of related inter partes and ex parte reexaminations that resulted in successful opinion validating all challenged claims.
• Kelce v. Cervantes et al. (Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit). Lead counsel representing a prisoner pro bono against the California state corrections system. Obtained favorable verdict from the Ninth Circuit.
• Samsung v. ITC (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Represented Sharp Corporation against Samsung in Samsung’s appeal of Sharp’s victory at the ITC, which found for Sharp on all four asserted Sharp patents and three of four asserted Samsung patents, and issued exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning imports and sales of Respondents’ LCD products.

• EON v. Cisco Systems et al. (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Lead counsel representing inventor of cellular and wireless technology in appeal from district court.
• Vizio v. ITC (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Represented Osaka-based Funai Electric Co., Ltd. in Vizio’s appeal of an ITC action filed against 14 manufacturers and importers of digital televisions and other related products. Represented Funai in an appeal and in the subsequent enforcement action at the Court of International Trade for enforcement of the exclusion order.
• Allergan v. Sandoz (Eastern District of Texas and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Represented the manufacturer of a generic version of Allergan’s Combigan® ophthalmic eye drops for the treatment of glaucoma in several related cases under the Hatch-Waxman Act.
• Toshiba v. Imation et al. (Western District of Wisconsin and S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Represented Toshiba Corporation in a patent infringement action against several foreign manufacturers and U.S. distributors of recordable and rewritable DVDs.