Alan A. Limbach

Alan A. Limbach is a patent litigation attorney with DLA Piper, based in Palo Alto, California, where he has practiced for over 25 years. He concentrates his practice on strategic patent counseling, domestic and foreign patent prosecution, and patent litigation in federal courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). His technical focus areas include semiconductor technologies, with an emphasis on semiconductor manufacturing, non-volatile memory, and computer system architectures. He also handles matters involving mechanical, medical, optical, electro-optical, and electronic inventions, including LED design, disk drive technologies, and laser-based medical devices.

Limbach's litigation practice involves representing both plaintiffs and defendants, with a slight emphasis on defense. His tracked case appearances include 3 on the plaintiff side and 5 on the defendant side. He has served as counsel for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Samsung Electronics America, Inc. in patent infringement defense, including in Maxell, Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. He also acted as Petitioner Counsel for Samsung in Samsung v. Maxell, Ltd., indicating his involvement in PTAB proceedings.

A notable outcome in his career includes representing Toshiba Corporation against Intellectual Ventures in the U.S. District Court for Delaware, where he successfully invalidated one patent in an Inter Partes Review (IPR) and obtained a jury verdict finding the remaining patents invalid or not infringed. Limbach regularly appears in IPR proceedings, acting as petitioner counsel for clients such as Samsung and Toshiba.

Mr. Limbach is admitted to the State Bar of California and registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He earned his J.D. from Golden Gate University in 1994 with honors, following an A.B. in Physics from Occidental College in 1985. Before his legal career, he worked as an applications engineer specializing in laser systems.