Alan Heinrich is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Irell & Manella LLP and a member of the firm’s litigation, intellectual property litigation and appellate groups. Mr. Heinrich’s practice focuses on complex business and intellectual property litigation at both the trial court and appellate court levels. Mr. Heinrich has been recognized by Chambers & Partners as "Up and Coming" in the area of intellectual property law in the 2008 Chambers USA Leading Lawyers for Business Guide and as a "rising star in intellectual property litigation" in the 2009 edition of the Legal 500 United States. From 2006-2009, Mr. Heinrich has been selected for inclusion in Los Angeles Magazine's Southern California "Rising Stars" in intellectual property litigation.

Mr. Heinrich earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from Loyola Law School in 2000, where he was valedictorian of his class and chief articles editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review. In 2000–2001, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Heinrich received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Washington and Lee University and a Ph.D. in Classics from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he was a lecturer at the University of Southern California, where he taught courses in Latin and Ancient Greek. Mr. Heinrich has also taught Federal Courts as an adjunct professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California.

Representative Matters

Immersion Corporation v. Sony Computer Entertainment (N.D. Cal.): Represented Immersion Corporation, a leading developer of "haptic" technologies that allow people to interact with computers using their sense of touch, in a patent infringement lawsuit alleging that various PlayStation game products infringe two Immersion patents relating to computer-controlled vibrotactile technologies. In September 2004, after a five-week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Immersion, finding all asserted patent claims valid and infringed and awarding $82 million in damages. In February 2007, after Immersion prevailed in a series of post-trial proceedings, Sony paid Immersion more than $150 million, which included Sony's satisfaction in full of the judgment, as well as payment of interest, compulsory license fees, and future royalties. Mr. Heinrich also represented Immersion in patent litigation against Microsoft Corporation, which settled in July 2003.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. v. Dudas (E.D. Va.): Represented intervenor Immersion Corporation in a case of first impression involving the Patent and Trademark Office's discretion to suspend an inter partes reexamination under the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999. Sony brought suit after the PTO granted Immersion's petitions to suspend reexamination proceedings that Sony initiated following Immersion's successful patent infringement action in federal district court.  The court upheld the PTO's suspension order, granting summary judgment in favor of Immersion and the PTO. The PTO has cited the district court's decision as authoritative precedent in the latest editions of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure.

Peer Communications Corp. v. Skype Technologies S.A., Skype, Inc. and eBay Inc. (E.D. Tex.):  Represents Skype, a world-leading Voice over Internet communications company, and its parent eBay, in a patent infringement case brought by a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation. Plaintiff alleged that the two patents in suit covered peer-to-peer communication technology, including Skype's pioneering peer-to-peer VoIP software, which is used by millions of people around the world. After a Markman hearing, the Court issued a claim construction ruling that adopted Skype's proposed claim construction for a key claim term. Plaintiff then stipulated that the asserted claims of the patents are invalid in light of the Court's claim construction ruling. The Court entered final judgment against Plaintiff and the case is now on appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Forterra Systems, Inc. v. IMVU, Inc. (N.D. Cal.): Represented IMVU, an online destination with 30 million registered users and recipient of the 2008 Virtual Worlds Innovation Award, in a patent infringement suit involving three-dimensional multi-user internet chat technology. The case settled successfully for IMVU after the district court issued a claim construction order that substantially adopted all of IMVU's proposed claim constructions and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected all of Forterra's asserted claims in an inter partes reexamination proceeding instituted by IMVU.

Net2Phone, Inc. v. Skype Technologies S.A., Skype, Inc. and eBay Inc. (D.N.J.):  Represents Skype and its parent eBay in a patent infringement case involving computer networking technology. The accused product is Skype's pioneering peer-to-peer VoIP software.

eBay Inc. v. IDT Corp. et al. (W.D. Ark.): Represents eBay in a patent infringement case involving Voice over Internet Protocol technology. The accused products are Defendants' VoIP calling cards, which generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales.

Avago Technologies Ltd. v. PixArt Imaging, Inc. (N.D. Cal.): Represented Avago Technologies Ltd., the world's largest privately-held semiconductor company, in a patent infringement case involving optical navigation technology for optical computer mouse applications. The accused products were PixArt's CMOS optical mouse sensors. The case settled successfully for Avago, with PixArt agreeing to take a worldwide license to certain Avago intellectual property.

Avago Technologies Ltd. v. Elan Microelectronics Corp. (N.D. Cal.): Represents Avago in a patent infringement case involving optical navigation technology for optical computer mouse applications. The accused products are Elan's CMOS optical mouse sensors. 

Interplay Inc. v. Citicorp Real Estate, Inc. (L.A. Sup. Ct.): Represented Citicorp Real Estate on plaintiff's claims for misappropriation of trade secrets and other state law tort claims. In 2002, the court granted CREI's motion for nonsuit at trial and entered judgment in favor of CREI. Mr. Heinrich argued the appeal, in which the judgment for CREI was affirmed in all respects.

Natural Resources Defense Council et al. v. Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Navy, et al. (C.D. Cal.):  Represented, as part of a team of attorneys from Irell & Manella LLP and the Natural Resources Defense Council, plaintiff environmental organizations in a series of successful challenges to the Navy's use of environmentally harmful high-intensity sonar in training exercises, resulting in the issuance of court orders providing for injunctive relief against the Navy for its violation of U.S. environmental laws. 

Bar & Court Admissions

• 2001, California
• 2001, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• 2002, U.S. District Court, Central and Northern Districts of California
• 2005, U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit