Allison H. Goddard

I'll research this attorney before drafting.

Key finding: this name matches a sitting federal magistrate judge. Let me verify and dig into her litigation history.

Disambiguation note first: the attorney in the tracked list — Allison H. Goddard of Patterson Law Group, Cal. Bar No. 211098 — is the same Allison H. Goddard who has served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of California since August 2019. The single tracked appearance (plaintiff side, "lead counsel," Patterson Law Group) is untitled and cannot be tied to a named case; it almost certainly predates her appointment. Because S.D. Cal. dockets routinely list "Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard" as the referral judge, aggregator data that codes her as counsel may be an artifact of her judicial role rather than an actual appearance.

Specialty / focus. Her patent work was centered in the Southern District of California and concentrated in wireless/telecommunications standards (Wi-Fi/WiMAX and 4G LTE cellular technology) and life sciences. Representative matters include Apple Inc. v. WI-LAN Inc. (S.D. Cal. 3:14-cv-02235) and Wi-LAN USA, Inc. v. Apple Inc., both involving wireless standards-essential-type portfolios; Zodiac Pool Systems, Inc. v. Aqua Products, Inc. (S.D. Cal. 2014); and AntiCancer, Inc. v. Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (S.D. Cal. 2007). Patent litigation was one component of a broader complex-litigation practice that also included consumer and employment class actions, rather than a standalone IP boutique practice.

Side preference. The tracked data (1 plaintiff-side appearance, 0 defendant-side) is too thin to establish a preference, and it is contradicted by the fuller record. She spent the first decade of her career defending corporate clients at Cooley LLP (2000–2004) and her own firm, Jaczko Goddard LLP (from 2004), then shifted in 2011 to plaintiff-side representation at Patterson Law Group. In patent matters she appears on both sides of the "v." — including defense-side roles for Aqua Products, while acting as counsel for patent owner/licensor Wi-LAN. Firm and judicial bios describe her patent practice as representing "patent-holders," so the dominant framing of her IP work is patent-owner/enforcement side.

Firm context and status. Patterson Law Group, APC (San Diego), 2011–2019; previously Cooley Godward LLP (associate, 2000–2004) and Jaczko Goddard LLP (partner/co-founder). She left private practice in August 2019 upon appointment to the federal bench and is not currently available for patent litigation engagements.

Notable outcomes. The most significant verified result in her patent docket is Apple v. WI-LAN, in which she appeared as counsel for Wi-LAN: the 2018 jury verdict was for Wi-LAN, and Wi-LAN's post-trial briefing in that case references approximately $145.1 million in damages (per court filings in S.D. Cal. 3:14-cv-02235). Reported trial results outside patent law include a $36 million bench verdict in a consumer class action and a $4 million jury verdict in an individual employment case (per her California Lawyers Association interview). No Federal Circuit argument or merits opinion attributable to her was located.

PTAB / IPR. No verified IPR, PGR, or CBM petition or patent-owner filing by her was found. Wi-LAN was the patent owner in LG Electronics Inc. v. WI-LAN Inc., IPR2018-00674, but I could not confirm her appearance in that proceeding.

Bar / education. Admitted to the California bar in 2000 (Bar No. 211098); Boston College, B.A., 1993; University of San Diego School of Law, J.D., 2000.