Suparna Datta is a patent litigator and registered patent attorney who handles high-stakes technology disputes in federal district court, at the International Trade Commission (ITC), and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She holds a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering and worked as a wireless research engineer and engineering professor before practicing law. That background lets her move quickly through complex technologies, including semiconductors, wireless communications, digital signal processing, graphics processors, video codecs, video streaming, and telecommunications. She also handles standard-essential patent disputes. She leads litigation teams and takes a hands-on role at every stage of a dispute, from early case strategy through trial and appeal.

Suparna also advises clients on intellectual property (IP) issues in complex mergers and acquisitions, including open-source software audits, representations and warranties insurance (RWI) claims, and IP valuation and risk analyses. She has negotiated patent and software license agreements, SaaS agreements, and royalty agreements, and she has significant experience in patent drafting and prosecution.         

In her work as a patent litigator, Suparna often draws on her experience as a researcher, engineer, and professor in coding and information theory. During her tenure as a mobile wireless research engineer at Texas Instruments’ Digital Signal Processing Solutions R&D Center, Suparna conducted coding research for 3G and 4G wireless standards, was the lead inventor of U.S. Patent No. 7,680,216 entitled “Adaptive Thresholds for High Speed Downlink Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) (Part I) Detection ,” and designed LDPC codes for use in mobile wireless and ADSL systems. She also worked with the Multimedia Communications System group at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and in engineering roles at companies in the automotive industry.

Suparna earned her Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she was a Presidential Fellow. Her doctoral work produced new results in coding for nonbinary runlength-limited channels. She wrote a thesis titled “New Results on Coding for M-ary Runlength-Limited Channels” and authored several peer-reviewed journal publications related to that work.

After earning her Ph.D., Suparna spent several years as a visiting assistant professor in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department of Northeastern University, where she taught undergraduate and graduate electrical and computer engineering courses.

Suparna maintains an active pro bono practice, which has included representing immigrant and refugee children on behalf of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). She has also prepared Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) petitions, I-360s, I-485s, and guardianship petitions and argued in support of these petitions in immigration courts.

Before joining RJLF, Suparna was a partner at an Am Law 100 firm and previously practiced at several leading national firms. In those roles, her practice encompassed patent litigation at the ITC and federal district courts, and post-grant proceedings including inter partes reviews (IPRs) and ex parte reexaminations.

Representative Matters

International Trade Commission

• Daedalus Prime LLC v. Samsung and TSMC (337-TA-1336): Represented Daedalus as complainant asserting former Intel patents covering semiconductor transistor fabrication. Obtained favorable settlements with Samsung following the Markman hearing, and with TSMC on the morning of the evidentiary hearing.

• Daedalus Prime LLC v. Samsung and Qualcomm (337-TA-1335): Represented Daedalus as complainant asserting former Intel patents covering power-management techniques in computer processors. Obtained favorable settlements with Samsung following the Markman hearing and fact depositions, and with Qualcomm on the initial determination deadline.

• ZiiLabs Inc., Ltd. v. ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, Nintendo, Nvidia, PNY, and Zotac (337-TA-1099): Represented ZiiLabs as complainant asserting patents covering graphics processing technology employed in GPUs, laptops, PCs, and video gaming devices. Obtained favorable outcomes in the Markman hearing, motions for summary determination, and various discovery motions. Successfully licensed all respondents just prior to the evidentiary hearing.

• ZiiLabs Inc., Ltd. v. AMD, Lenovo, LG, MediaTek, Motorola, Qualcomm, and Sony (337-TA-1037): Represented ZiiLabs as complainant asserting patents covering graphics processing technology. After obtaining favorable outcomes in various discovery motions and the Markman hearing, immediately licensed all respondents on behalf of the client.

• Andrea Electronics v. HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo, Realtek, Acer, and ASUS (337-TA-949): Represented complainant Andrea Electronics against PC and smartphone manufacturers on patents relating to digital audio signal processing. Successfully licensed all respondents.

• FlashPoint Technology, Inc. v. HTC, Pantech, Huawei, and ZTE (337-TA-850): Represented FlashPoint Technology as complainant asserting patents covering digital camera technology found in smartphones. Successfully obtained a recommendation for a limited exclusion order. Licensed all respondents while the Commission’s review of the initial determination was pending.

• Digitude Innovations LLC v. Amazon, RIM, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Pantech, Samsung, and Sony (337-TA-827): Represented Digitude as complainant, and successfully licensed all respondents. 

Federal District Court

• directPacket Research, Inc. v. Polycom, Inc. (NDCA, 19-cv-03918-LHK): Defended Polycom in patent litigation related to multimedia communications across computer networks. Obtained a favorable ruling on a motion to compel or strike the plaintiff’s infringement contentions. Ultimately secured a stay of the patent litigation against the client by drafting substantive arguments in three IPR petitions (IPR2019-01233, IPR2019-01234, IPR2019-01235) that invalidated all of the asserted patent claims.

• Callwave Communications, LLC v. Google, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Ring Central, Telovations, 8×8, and Fonality (DDE, 1:13-cv-00074, 1:14-cv-00397, 1:14-cv-00398, 1:12-cv-01701, 1:12-cv-01702, 1:12-cv-01703, 1:12-cv-01704, 1:12-cv-01748, 1:12-cv-01788): Represented plaintiff Callwave Communications in a patent enforcement action involving location services, call processing (telecommunications), and payment processing. Obtained favorable outcomes in multiple Markman hearings, motions for summary judgment, and various discovery motions. Successfully licensed all defendants.

• Employment Law Compliance, Inc. v. Empower Software Solutions, Inc. (MDFL, 6:14-cv-00663-GAP-KRS): Represented defendant Empower Software Solutions, securing dismissal of the patent litigation after drafting and prosecuting an ex parte reexamination that resulted in the invalidation of 89 of 94 asserted patent claims.

• Lupercal v. Regions Bank (WDTX, 6:21-cv-00801-ADA): Served as lead counsel for defendant Regions Bank in patent litigation involving remote deposit capture technology. Drafted a motion to transfer venue and invalidity contentions that led to a favorable settlement agreement for the client.

• Beyond the Cloud Inc. et al. v. Performance Solutions, LLC (EDNY, 1:21-cv-02979-LDH-SJB): Represented patent owner Performance Solutions, including by drafting infringement and invalidity rebuttal contentions and managing discovery. Obtained a favorable settlement agreement for the client just prior to the Markman briefing.

• High Sec Labs Ltd. v. iPGARD Inc. and SmartAVI Inc. (DNV, 2:20-cv-01797-MMD-NJK): Represented defendants iPGARD Inc. and SmartAVI Inc. in all phases of patent litigation with High Sec Labs Ltd. involving secure keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) switches. Managed discovery and drafted infringement and invalidity rebuttal contentions, ultimately obtaining a favorable settlement agreement for the client after the Markman briefing.

Other Representative Matters

• Represented VeraSci, a neurological drug contract research organization (CRO) based in Research Triangle, North Carolina, in connection with its $330 million sale to WCG Clinical.

• Represented Franklin Templeton in connection with its acquisition of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC.

Rankings & Honors

• Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch,” Patent Law & Patent Litigation

Professional & Community Activities

• Member, IEEE Information Theory Society

• Board of Directors, Smile-A-Mile, providing year-round programming for families affected by childhood cancer