Eric B. Hanson

Eric Hanson is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Irell & Manella LLP, where he is a member of the firm's litigation practice group. He specializes in intellectual property.

Mr. Hanson received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where he was a member of the California Law Review. He earned his B.S.J. from Northwestern University.

Representative Matters

St. Jude Medical v. Access Closure, Inc. (W.D. Ark.) – Represented St. Jude Medical in a patent case alleging infringement of St. Jude's patents relating to vascular closure devices.  In December 2010, the jury returned a verdict of willful patent infringement and awarded St. Jude $27.1 million in damages.

Net2Phone v. eBay and Skype (D.N.J.); eBay v. IDT and Net2Phone (W.D. Ark.) – Represented eBay and Skype in several patent infringement law suits related to internet communications, including VoIP (voice over internet protocol) and calling card technology.  Net2Phone first filed suit in New Jersey.  eBay subsequently filed suit in Arkansas against Net2Phone and its parent IDT.  Although filed two years later, eBay's case in Arkansas was scheduled for trial well before Net2Phone's case in New Jersey.  Both cases settled successfully shortly before trial.

Peer Communications Corp. v. Skype, Inc., et al. (E.D. Tex.) – Represented defendants eBay and Skype in a patent infringement suit related to internet communications, including VoIP (voice over internet protocol). The plaintiff was a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corp. After claim construction, the district court entered judgment for eBay and Skype based on patent invalidity and dismissed the case with prejudice. The judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Bar & Court Admissions

• 2007, California
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit