Overview

Juanita R. Brooks is a nationally recognized trial and appellate attorney who focuses on complex intellectual property, products liability, and mass tort litigation. She is an innovative, formidable litigator with a demonstrated, near-perfect winning record in complex, high-stakes lawsuits that few trial attorneys can match.

A master storyteller, Juanita paints pictures with words to explain the complex technologies at the center of her matters to judges and juries in a way that is both understandable and compelling and will be remembered throughout the trial. Law360 named her an “Icon of IP” for her “skill at trying complicated patent cases without getting bogged down in the technical weeds” and said that she is a “jury whisperer.” She has also been heralded by The American Lawyer as “a titan of the patent bar” upon receiving its “Litigator of the Year” honors. 

Her skill at connecting with courtroom audiences has made her a go-to litigator when the stakes are high for companies ranging from startups to Fortune 10 corporations. Juanita’s successes in patent litigation have protected billions of dollars in sales for clients and have helped define the ever-evolving landscape of IP law. Clients come to her from a cross-section of cutting-edge industries, including software, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. 

Having handled more than 150 trials during her career, Juanita is highly skilled at cases that rest, in large part, on expert analysis, testing, and testimony. Utilizing Fish & Richardson’s science- and technology-intensive expertise, she crafts novel, outside-the-box legal strategies. Her ability to present and challenge expert testimony in court has been a decisive factor in courtroom victories. In one case, the trial judge noted that the opposing expert’s “credibility was eviscerated on cross-examination” by Juanita. 

Throughout her 44-year career, Juanita’s numerous trials have resulted in notable wins. In 2018, the Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed a decision for client Gilead Sciences in which she successfully wiped out a $200 million damages award by convincing the court that opposing party Merck was guilty of unclean hands. In defense of client Microsoft, Juanita scored a huge jury win in 2017, in which the plaintiff originally demanded $63 million in damages. The jury returned a noninfringement verdict on every claim, awarding nothing to the plaintiff. Also in 2017, Juanita represented GlaxoSmithKline in a patent infringement lawsuit involving GSK’s highly-successful drug Coreg®. By utilizing a novel patent infringement theory, she convinced a jury that the defendant had willfully infringed and GSK was awarded $235 million in damages. In 2016, she led a team that successfully defended one of the largest mass tort/wrongful death cases in the United States, which included 12,000 cases (some of them class actions representing hundreds of individual plaintiffs). 

As a Latina, Juanita has shattered ethnic and gender barriers to become one of the U.S.’s top IP litigators, having received numerous honors for her courtroom successes and her devotion to the practice of law. She has been named Hatch-Waxman Litigator of the Year by LMG Life Sciences, received The American Lawyer’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement award, and been honored with Corporate Counsel’s National Women in Law Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017, Juanita was inducted into the California Bar Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, becoming the first Latina honoree and only the third inductee from San Diego to receive this honor. 

While she tries cases nationally, she is also active in her local community and played a significant role in drafting the original and the subsequent amendments to local patent rules for the Southern District of California.

During her tenure as an elected member of the firm’s management committee, Juanita championed policies that changed the culture and diversity of Fish and became blueprints for similar policies at other firms. 

After graduating from Yale Law School, Juanita returned to San Diego and worked for Federal Defenders, Inc. She eventually opened her own practice, the first Latina to become a criminal defense solo practitioner in the community. She went on to be a partner in a preeminent international law firm before joining Fish in 2000. 

Experience

2022 – Represented the former CEO of one of the country’s largest providers of dialysis services in a high-profile criminal antitrust matter asserted by the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ alleged that Fish’s client conspired with three other companies to suppress competition in the market for senior-level employees. After a three-week trial, a District of Colorado jury returned a verdict acquitting Fish’s client. This case of first impression was closely watched in the media, as it represented an early test of a new DOJ legal theory on employment-related antitrust enforcement.  

2022 – Represented a cybersecurity company in an appeal to the Federal Circuit. Fish successfully persuaded the court to reverse, in a precedential decision, the District Court’s decision invalidating four of the client’s cybersecurity patents.  

2020 – Led and won two high-profile, precedential decisions at the Federal Circuit for client GlaxoSmithKline. In both wins, Fish convinced the court to reinstate the $235 million jury verdict Fish obtained for GSK against Teva Pharmaceuticals in June 2017 in the District of Delaware. for induced infringement of GSK’s heart disease drug Coreg®.

2018 – Gilead Sciences Inc. v. Merck & Co. (N.D. Cal.) Served as lead counsel for Gilead in a case involving Gilead’s multi-billion-dollar drugs Sovaldi®. and Harvoni®., which treat hepatitis C. Initially, the jury sided with Merck, finding the asserted patent claims were not invalid. However, in a June 2016 ruling, the judge agreed that Merck’s in-house lawyer’s misconduct involved “repeated and fabricated testimony and improper business conduct.” As a result, the court found Merck “guilty of unclean hands” and held Merck’s patents unenforceable against Gilead, wiping out the $200 million damages award. In February 2018, appeared on behalf of Gilead before the Federal Circuit in an oral argument lasting almost two hours and in April 2018 the Federal Circuit, in a precedential, unanimous opinion, affirmed the June 2016 post-trial wipe-out. The opinion noted that Merck’s misconduct “infected this entire case.” Read more about this Federal Circuit decision here. Also, in 2018, Juanita argued for legal fees from Merck and the court agreed, awarding $14 million.   

2017 – Parallel Networks Licensing LLC v. Microsoft Corp. (D. Del.) Parallel Networks sued Microsoft in December 2013, alleging patent infringement of two patents by Microsoft’s Windows Server and Windows Sharepoint products, Azure Web Apps, and the Microsoft.com, Bing, and MSN websites. After a four-day trial, the jury returned a verdict for Microsoft in under one hour, finding non-infringement on every claim. 

2017 – GlaxoSmithKline v. Teva and Glenmark (D. Del.). GlaxoSmithKline brought a patent infringement lawsuit involving GSK’s highly successful drug Coreg ®., used to treat congestive heart failure and hypertension. By utilizing a novel patent infringement theory, the Fish team proved that Teva willfully induced infringement of GSK’s patent. After several days of trial, but only a half day of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict against Teva, finding that Teva had willfully infringed GSK’s patent, and awarded GSK $235 million in damages. The jury also rejected Teva’s multiple invalidity defenses. 

2016 – IPLearn–Focus v. Microsoft. (Fed. Cir.) Defense of Microsoft in this infringement suit regarding three patents for learning and computing methods and systems used in Microsoft’s popular Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Kinect, Xbox One, and Xbox One Kinect products and Xbox Live and Xbox Live Gold services. In 2015, the court found the asserted claims invalid and entered judgment for Microsoft. In 2016, the case was argued at the Federal Circuit, resulting in a judgment affirming the decision for Microsoft. 

2016 – In re Fresenius GranuFlo/NaturaLyte Dialysate Products Liability Litigation (MDL) Served as lead counsel in a case in which Fish used its technical expertise to craft a novel defense strategy that brought a favorable global settlement of products liability mass tort litigation involving the use of acid concentrate products used during dialysis. The plaintiffs alleged that improper use of the product could result in sudden cardiac arrest. The settlement followed Fish’s strategic victory in a motion in limine and related Daubert motion to exclude, as unreliable science, faulty expert testimony and a complete defense verdict of no causation at the first and only bellwether trial. 

2015 – Reihanifam v. Fresenius (C.D. Cal.) Obtained jury verdict in favor of client Fresenius in wrongful termination suit brought by Fresenius’ former President of Research and Development. Reihanifam claimed he had been terminated in retaliation for making complaints about alleged safety issues and alleged discrimination against women and minorities. 

2014 – Fresenius v. Baxter (U.S. Supreme Court) Writ of certiorari by Baxter denied, effectively ending this 10-year patent infringement litigation and scoring a complete victory for Fresenius. The petition was heralded as one of the top five to watch in 2014. 

2014 – Won bench verdict and injunction for a leading pharmaceutical company in Hatch-Waxman case involving its ocular drug. Judgment affirmed on appeal in 2015. 

2013 – Gilead, Roche, Genetech v. Lupin (D.N.J.) Settlement after a three-week patent infringement bench trial that will block Lupin’s generic version of Ranexa from entering the market until 2019. 

2013 – Fresenius v. Baxter (Fed. Cir.) Significant appellate decision in patent infringement case for Fresenius, ending long-standing litigation, which included reexamination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. 

2013 – The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment in a precedential opinion involving our client’s glaucoma drug, assuring exclusivity for the drug until 2022. 

2012 – Multimedia Patent Trust v. LG Electronics, et. al. (S.D. Cal.) Defense of infringement claims of video compression patents involving multiple LG and another large technology company’s products. Won complete jury verdict with finding of no infringement on any patents. 

2012 – Baxter International Inc., et al. v. Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc. (Fed. Cir.) Federal Circuit affirmed jury’s 2010 verdict of non-infringement of Fresenius’ peritoneal dialysis machine. 

2011 – Won bench verdict for a leading pharmaceutical company in Hatch-Waxman case involving its glaucoma drug. 

2010 – Gonzalez ex. rel. v. Dr. Alphonso Chavez and Fresenius Medical Care, (W.D. Tex.) Qui tam case involving allegations of Medicare fraud. Won jury verdict for Fresenius. 

2010 – Cephalon v. Watson, et. al., (D. Del.) Hatch-Waxman case involving Cephalon’s drug, Fentora®. Won bench verdict for Cephalon. 

2010 – Baxter and DEKA v. Fresenius, (N.D. Cal.) Patent case involving peritoneal dialysis cyclers. Won jury verdict for Fresenius. 

2010 – Eurand, Cephalon and Anesta v. Mylan and Par Pharmaceuticals, (D. Del.) Hatch-Waxman case involving Eurand’s drug Amrix®. Represented plaintiffs. District Court returned verdict for defendants, but Federal Circuit reversed and entered judgment on behalf of plaintiffs in a frequently cited precedential opinion. 

2010 – B. Braun v. Terumo, (D. Del.) Patent infringement case involving safety IV catheter sets. Won jury verdict for Terumo. 

2009 – Won bench verdict for a leading pharmaceutical company in Hatch-Waxman case involving its ocular drug. 

2008 – MPT and Alcatel-Lucent v. Microsoft, (S.D. Cal.) Patent case involving multiple technologies. including video-compression and decompression software. Won jury verdict for Microsoft on three out of four patents, adverse verdict on one patent reversed by Federal Circuit. 

2008 – MPT, Alcatel-Lucent v. Microsoft, (S.D. Cal.) Patent case involving video-compression and decompression software in Windows Media Player, won jury verdict for client Microsoft. 

2007 – MIT/Repligen v. ImClone, (D. Mass.) Represented MIT and Repligen in patent infringement case involving monoclonal antibodies. Case settled on morning of opening statements when ImClone agreed to pay MIT and Repligen $64 million. 

2007 – Becton Dickenson v. Tyco, (D. Del.) Represented Tyco in patent infringement case involving safety syringes. Jury returned verdict for plaintiff, but Federal Circuit reversed jury’s verdict and entered judgment on behalf of Tyco. 

2006 – Avid v. Datamars, (E.D. Tex.) Patent infringement and Lanham Act case involving RFID technology. Won jury verdict for client Avid.  

2006 – Fresenius v. Baxter, (N.D. Cal.) Patent case infringement case involving hemodialysis machines. Won jury verdict for client Fresenius. 

2005 – 3M v. Avery, (D. Minn.) Patent infringement case involving graphic film. Won jury verdict for client 3M. 

2004 – KLA v. ADE, (D. Del.) Patent infringement case involving laser inspection machines.Won jury verdict for client ADE. 

Testimonials

"Juanita is a legend in the intellectual property space." — Market commentator, 2022 Chambers and Partners USA

“Juanita is a quintessential trial lawyer and absolute go-to attorney.” — Client testimonial, 2021 Chambers and Partners USA

“She’s very highly regarded for her trial work and has a great reputation.” — Client testimonial, 2021 Chambers and Partners USA

“I refer to her as the judge whisperer. They will always listen to her. She’s one of the best I’ve seen in front of a judge. She owns that courtroom. She should be anyone’s first choice as a first chair trial lawyer. She could do any type of trial, she’s just amazing.” — Client testimonial, 2019 Chambers and Partners

“Juanita Brooks is very highly regarded here. She has very experienced and skilled trial expertise. She has a deep team, and she appropriately delegates to the team. We very much value diversity, as does she.” — Client testimonial, 2019 Chambers and Partners

“Still at the top of the list is Juanita Brooks, a paradigmatic lead trial lawyer with some of the best narrative skills in the country, sharpened over the course of an incredible 150-plus trials. She is unlimited in terms of her technical range.” — 2019 IAM Patent 1000

Professional associations

  • Board Member and pro bono counsel, Western Center on Law & Poverty (2005-2014)
  • Founding Member, Wallace Inn of Court (2005-Present)
  • Member, Fish & Richardson Management Committee (2005-2008, 2016-2022)
  • Member, Lawyers Club of San Diego, (1978-Present)