Stephen Smith

Steve is chair of Cooley’s nationally recognized intellectual property litigation practice, which was named a finalist for The American Lawyer’s IP Litigation Department of the Year in 2023. He is a top-tier first-chair trial lawyer who has tried complex technology cases for some of the US biggest companies in federal courts nationwide, as well as before the US International Trade Commission (USITC) and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Steve has deep understanding of patents, trade secrets and technology-related issues, and he has been described as “one of the most knowledgeable and experienced patent litigators on the market.”

Steve’s trial and litigation experience centers on technology disputes in district courts and before the USITC. His broad district court experience includes successful jury trials for major smartphone manufacturers, semiconductor chipmakers and designers, iconic game companies, top software development companies, medical devices, manufacturers, government contractors, and consumer credit companies throughout the US. Steve has argued and tried cases in US district courts that include the Northern District of California, the Eastern, Northern and Western Districts of Texas, the Northern District of Illinois, and the Eastern District of Virginia, among others. He also has successfully tried cases at the ITC impacting billions of dollars in potential revenue and has made winning arguments at the US Court of Federal Claims.

Steve has litigated and tried dozens of complex patent and trade secret cases at the ITC as a government lawyer and in private practice. He’s a longtime adjunct professor at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, where he teaches a patent litigation class with particular emphasis on the ITC, as Cooley’s ITC Section 337 investigation practice is one of the most sought out in the US.

Managing Intellectual Property has named Steve an IP Star for eight consecutive years and shortlisted him for 2023’s Litigator of the Year – DC Metro award. In 2022, Intellectual Asset Management included Steve on its Patent 1000 list, which recognizes the top patent professionals in the world. In addition, The Legal 500 US has praised his ITC Section 337 litigation experience. Steve was elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation in 2021.

Upon graduating from law school, Steve clerked with Justice Florence K. Murray in the Rhode Island Supreme Court, followed by a clerkship with Judge Robert W. Lovegreen in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island.