Stephen C. Steinberg

Trademark / Copyright Infringement and Related Claims

Laatz v. Zazzle, Inc., Northern District of California – Currently serving as co-lead counsel for plaintiff, who is a leading designer of custom fonts, in a district court case involving claims for copyright infringement, breach of contract, fraud, and trademark infringement against a leading custom-printing business; case set for trial in July 2025.

Stardock v. Reiche, Ford, Northern District of California – Lead counsel for defendants and cross-complainants in district court case and related proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board involving allegations of copyright and trademark infringement, unfair competition, and related claims; reached favorable settlement near the conclusion of fact discovery.

Juul Labs, Inc. v. Chou et al., Central District of California – Co-lead counsel for plaintiff in case alleging counterfeiting and trademark infringement; obtained early injunctive relief and asset freeze, and then favorable judgment following bench trial.

Cisco Systems, Inc., Cisco Technology, Inc., Ciena Corporation v. Wuhan Wolon Communication Technology Co., Ltd. et al., Northern District of California – Co-lead counsel for plaintiff in counterfeiting case; obtained consent judgment and permanent injunction, including shutting down websites at early stage.

Cisco Systems, Inc., Cisco Technology, Inc. v. Shenzhen Usource Technology Co. et al., Northern District of California – Co-lead counsel for plaintiff in counterfeiting case; obtained default judgment and permanent injunction, including shutting down websites at early stage.

Petranovic v. Casetagram Ltd. d/b/a Casetify, Central District of California – Lead counsel for defendant in case alleging copyright and trademark infringement, Lanham Act violations, and statutory and common law misappropriation of right of publicity; reached settlement after early discovery.

Comprehensive Industrial Disability Management, Inc. v. Chopra Consulting, LLC, Arvinder Chopra et al., Northern District of California – Represented software developer and his company in defending against claims of breach of contract, copyright infringement, and interference; obtained favorable settlement following expert discovery.

Sahara Afghani Gourmet Foods, Inc. v. East & West Gourmet Afghan Foods, Trademark Trial and Appeals Board – Represented defendants in trademark cancellation proceedings.

Apollo Future Tech., Inc. v. Taqseem, Inc., Northern District of California – Lead counsel for declaratory judgment plaintiff manufacturer of e-cigarette liquids in case alleging non-infringement and seeking cancellation of trademark registration; obtained favorable settlement early in discovery.

Spiraledge, Inc. v. SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., Southern District of California – Lead counsel for plaintiff e-commerce company in infringement action regarding “Aquatica” trademark; obtained favorable settlement shortly before trial.

Trade Secret and Other Business Disputes

ASML US, Inc. v. XTAL, Inc., Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara – Represented the plaintiff, a leader in computational lithography, in a case involving theft of trade secrets, breaches of contract and fiduciary duty, and computer fraud by numerous former employees who joined a competing company; second-chaired a three-week jury trial that led to one of the largest trade secret verdicts in history. Click here for The Recorder article and click here for the Daily Journal article.

AKT Franchise, LLC, Xponential Fitness LLC, et al. v. Anna Kaiser, et al., Superior Court of California, County of Orange, and related cases in District of Delaware and Delaware Chancery Court – Lead counsel for defendant celebrity trainer in California-based part of dispute involving counterclaims for breach of contract and fiduciary duties, interference, and related claims concerning franchise business; obtained dismissal through early motion practice leading to favorable settlement of all cases.

Timefire, Inc. v. AQS Engineering, Inc., All Quality & Services, Inc., Superior Court of California, County of Alameda – Represented the plaintiff, a BitCoin circuit board design company, in breach of contract case against supplier; obtained favorable verdict and judgment after jury trial.

SMC Networks, Inc. v. Hitron Techs., Inc., Hitron Techs. Americas Inc. et al., Central District of California – Represented plaintiff in case alleging breach of contract, interference, breach of fiduciary duties, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair competition by former supplier and officers; obtained favorable settlement on eve of trial.

Accton Tech. Corp. v. Centillium Communications, Inc., Superior Court of California, County of Alameda – Represented plaintiff in case involving claims related to defective microchips.

SMC Networks, Inc. v. Netstar Tech. Corp., Central District of California – Represented plaintiff in case involving claims related to defective network switches.

Privacy and Healthcare Litigation

Barbour v. John Muir Health, Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa – Currently serving as co-lead counsel for healthcare entity defendant in class action case alleging wiretapping, invasion of privacy, and other privacy-related claims based on use of the Meta/Facebook Pixel on healthcare system’s website.

Doe v. Sutter Health, Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento – Currently serving as co-lead counsel for healthcare entity defendant in class action case alleging wiretapping, breach of contract, and numerous privacy-related claims based on use of various technologies such as cookies, pixels, and analytics on healthcare system’s website.

In re: MOVEit Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, multiple district and state courts – Co-lead counsel for

healthcare entity

defendant in class action case alleging numerous claims based on one of the largest data breaches in history.

Peterson v. Sutter Medical Foundation, Northern District of California – Co-lead counsel defending healthcare entity and members of medical staff leadership against allegations regarding civil rights, antitrust laws, and other claims by doctor who had hospital privileges; obtained partial dismissal and substantial award of attorneys’ fees for defendants through motions to dismiss and strike, and favorable judgment on remaining claims through summary judgment following discovery; currently on appeal.

Patent Infringement

Case-Mate, Inc. v. Casetagram Ltd. d/b/a Casetify, Northern District of Georgia – Lead counsel for defendants in case regarding mobile phone cases; obtained settlement early in the case.

Uncommon, LLC v. Casetagram Ltd. d/b/a Casetify, Northern District of Illinois – Lead counsel for defendants in case regarding mobile phone cases; defeated motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction and reached settlement early in the case.

Chrimar Holding Co., LLC v. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise USA Inc., Accton Tech. Corp., SMC Networks, Inc., Edgecore USA Corp., Costar Techs., Inc., Costar Video Sys., Belden, Inc., Garrettcom, Inc., Hirschmann, Inc., Eastern District of Texas – Represented numerous defendants in case regarding Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) technology; obtained favorable verdict after jury trial for one defendant and reached settlements on eve of trial for other defendants.

Trustees of Boston University v. Epistar Corp., Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd., Lite-On, Inc., District of Massachusetts – Represented leading LED manufacturers through jury trial and overturned adverse verdict through post-trial motions.

Nichia Corp. v. Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd., Eastern District of Texas – Represented leading LED package manufacturer through bench trial and appeal and obtained favorable verdict and judgment awarding no injunction or damages.

Synqor, Inc. v. Lineage Power Corp. & Cherokee International Corp. / Lineage Power Corp. v. Synqor, Inc., Eastern District of Texas – Represented leading power supply company (now subsidiary of GE) as defendant through trial and as plaintiff in dualing cases regarding DC-DC power converters.

Northpeak Wireless LLC v. SMC Networks, Inc., Northern District of California – Represented defendant in case regarding WiFi technology; obtained stipulated judgment of non-infringement after favorable claim construction order.

CSIRO v. 3Com Corp., D-Link Systems, Inc., Accton Tech. Corp., SMC Networks, Inc., Eastern District of Texas – Represented defendants in case regarding WiFi technology; obtained favorable settlements near end of trial.

• Litigation Against Healthcare Entities Based on Their Use of Website Cookies and Pixels, California Health Law News, Summer 2024 

• Speaker, “Defending Healthcare Entities Against Class Actions Premised on the Entities’ Use of Website Cookies and Pixels,” California Society of Healthcare Associations, 2023 Annual Meeting

• Challenges of Privacy Compliance and Litigation
  Update author, Chapter 1: “Challenges of Privacy Compliance and Litigation” (CEB Privacy Compliance and Litigation 2021, 2024)

• Trademarks
  Update author, Chapter 6: “Trademarks” (CEB California Business Litigation 2023)

• Comments from the Chair
  ABA Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) (Summer 2019)

• Local Idea: National Impact
  Contra Costa Lawyer, October 2018

• From the Chair . . .
  ABA Dialogue Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer 2017)

• ABA LRIS Standing Committee Launches National Data Survey of Programs
  ABA Dialogue Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer 2017)

• Speaker, “Lawyer referral services need confidentiality privileges,” ABA Journal, August 2016

• Interview, “Meet Your 2014 CCCBA Board President: Stephen Steinberg,” Contra Costa Lawyer, January 2014