Ben Hattenbach’s practice is focused on intellectual property litigation and counseling, with a particular emphasis on the trial of complex patent infringement matters. He has served as a member of the firm's Executive Committee for more than a decade, and is vice chair of the Litigation practice.
For 10 years, the Daily Journal has named Ben one of the top 75 intellectual property litigators in California. He was recognized by The American Lawyer as a “Litigator of the Week” in 2021, and by Best Lawyers as the Los Angeles Technology Law “Lawyer of the Year” for 2022. He has been described as “an exceptionally talented patent litigator who fully dedicates himself to his clients,” “fantastically smart” and “super-bright, creative and tenacious” (Chambers USA), “amazing” (The Legal 500), and “a tactically clever lawyer who thinks 15 moves ahead” (IAM 1000). While representing patent holders he has obtained more than five billion dollars in judgments and settlements. In addition, on multiple occasions he has represented patent litigation defendants who succeeded in turning the tables and recovering hundreds of millions of dollars from the plaintiffs that had sued them.
Ben represents clients of all sizes in intellectual property-related disputes before federal and state courts, as well as the U.S. International Trade Commission and arbitration panels. A registered patent attorney, he also regularly litigates contested proceedings, such as inter partes reviews, before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. On the transactional and counseling side, Ben provides strategic guidance regarding patent portfolio management, licensing and acquisitions. In his spare time, Ben is an internationally published landscape photographer who enjoys exploring remote wilderness areas.
Experience
- Intel v. Future Link Systems (D. Del.). Represented Future Link Systems in a 17-patent case involving interconnect architectures, thermal monitoring systems, security circuitry and performance optimization within several hundred billion dollars of microprocessors and chipsets.
- WesternGeco v. Petroleum Geo-Services (S.D. Tex.). Represented Petroleum Geo-Services in two multi-patent actions involving seismic exploration technology for acquiring and processing data used to map offshore oil and gas reservoirs.
- Amkor v. Synaptics (D. Del.). Represented Synaptics in a matter involving patent, trade secret and copyright claims against fingerprint sensors used in smartphones.
- Invensas v. Renesas (D. Del.). Represented Invensas in a multi-patent infringement action focused on semiconductor package substrate architectures having segmented voltage supply planes and reduced signal degradation.
- Novellus Systems v. Applied Materials (N.D. Cal.). Represented Novellus Systems in a series of patent infringement cases involving an array of semiconductor processing techniques and equipment including plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, multi-stage vacuums and magnetron sputtering.
News
Honors & Awards
- Named one of the 75 Top IP Litigators in California by the Daily Journal (2010-2016, 2018, 2021-2022)
- Received a Distinguished Writing Award from the Burton Awards for his Stanford Technology Law Review article, “Patents In An Era Of Infinite Monkeys And Artificial Intelligence” (2016)
- Recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, Managing Intellectual Property, Super Lawyers, Intellectual Asset Management 1000, Best Lawyers in America and The Legal 500
Publications
Ben frequently speaks and writes about patent law and practice. His publications include:
- "Concrete Thoughts About Abstract Ideas: Why A Nebulous Exception To Patentability Should Not Swallow Computer Software," 58 Santa Clara L. Rev. 261 (2018)
- "Rethinking The Mental Steps Doctrine And Other Barriers To Patentability Of Artificial Intelligence," 19 Colum. Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 313 (2018)
- "From Camera Obscura To Camera Futura: How Patents Shaped Two Centuries of Photographic Innovation and Competition," 98 J. Pat. & Trademark Off. Soc'y 406 (2016)
- "Patents In An Era Of Infinite Monkeys And Artificial Intelligence," 19 Stan. Tech. L. Rev. 32 (2015)
- "Evaluating Patents," ExecSense eBook (2012)
Speaking Engagements
- Ben’s recent speaking engagements on patent law and litigation topics include conferences put on by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, China's State Intellectual Property Office, the AIPLA, West Legalworks, Stanford Law School, John Marshall Law School, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, ReedLogic, IP Counsel Forum and the IEEE.
- Ben has also served on the planning committees for the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology's Advanced Patent Law Institute and the University of Southern California Law School's Intellectual Property Institute, as well as the executive committee of the intellectual property section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Practice Areas
Education
University of California, Berkeley School of Law (J.D., 1996); Order of the Coif; Executive editor, Berkeley Technology Law Journal
Harvey Mudd College (Master of Engineering, with distinction, 1993)
Harvey Mudd College (B.S., Engineering, with distinction, 1992)
Admissions
- California, 1996
- U.S. District Court, Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit and Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office