Brent K. Yamashita

I'll research this attorney before drafting the summary.

Let me dig into the tracked cases and any notable outcomes.

Let me verify who Yamashita represents in the Viasat-related matters and check his PTAB docket.

Brent K. Yamashita — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus. Yamashita's practice centers on electronics and computer hardware/software patent disputes — flash memory and data storage, error-correction and semiconductor technology, and related software/AI subject matter. His prosecution work is described as covering AI, neural networks, flash memory and virtual reality technologies, with 150+ U.S. patents obtained in hardware, software and mechanical sectors. His tracked patent matters are consistent with that profile: memory/storage technology disputes involving Western Digital/SanDisk entities and Viasat. Firm bios also list semiconductor, robotics and cybersecurity/software clients (Toshiba, Kioxia, Samsung, GSI, KUKA, Supermicro). There is no indication of pharma or life-sciences work.

Side preference. Of his two tracked appearances, both are on the defendant side (0 plaintiff / 2 defendant) — matching a career built around defending operating technology companies, not prosecuting for NPEs/PAEs. Treat this as directionally reliable but thin: the sample is very small, and his bios emphasize that he also initiates PTAB challenges and prosecutes patents for the same corporate clients, so he operates on both the defense and offensive-IP sides for product companies rather than as NPE counsel.

Firm context. He is currently a Shareholder in Vedder Price's IP practice group in San Francisco, which he joined in February 2025 (announced Feb. 4, 2025) after serving as a partner in DLA Piper's Silicon Valley / East Palo Alto office — the firm of record on both tracked matters. Note a timing caveat: both tracked appearances are DLA Piper matters, and the later public developments in the Viasat dispute (including a July 2026 jury verdict in the parallel Kioxia action) postdate his move to Vedder Price, so those results cannot be attributed to his current firm.

Notable tracked case. The principal tracked matter is Western Digital Technologies, Inc. et al. v. Viasat, Inc., where the tracker lists him as lead counsel for the defendant side. This belongs to the same family of flash-memory error-correction litigation Viasat filed in November 2021 in the Western District of Texas against both Western Digital (No. 6:21-cv-01230) and Kioxia (No. 6:21-cv-01231), plus related PTAB proceedings. Public reporting confirms that Western Digital's IPR of Viasat's U.S. Patent No. 8,966,347 (IPR2022-01171) succeeded: the PTAB held claims 1–11 and 13–23 obvious, and the Federal Circuit affirmed on January 7, 2026 (Viasat, Inc. v. Western Digital Technologies, Inc., No. 24-1483). Caveat: the public appellate and PTAB records I could retrieve do not clearly identify Yamashita as counsel of record in that specific IPR or appeal, so his personal role in that outcome should not be asserted without docket-level confirmation.

PTAB / IPR experience. This is a substantial part of his practice — his bios state he has initiated dozens of IPR proceedings and argued as lead counsel at numerous PTAB oral hearings, and USPTO records show him as lead or back-up counsel on multiple IPR petitions (e.g., a 2015-era IPR on U.S. Pat. 8,050,095, an IPR on Reissue Pat. RE043106, and an ABB/KUKA/Reis Robotics petition concerning U.S. Pat. 7,120,508). Confirmed on the record as a PTAB practitioner; he is registered with the USPTO (Reg. No. 53,808).

Bar / education. J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law (1997); B.S., Electrical Engineering, Princeton University (1994); admitted in California (2000) and to the USPTO, the Federal Circuit (2011) and the Ninth Circuit, among other courts.

Verified via Vedder Price and DLA Piper/Beverly Hills Bar Association bios, Bloomberg Law, the Federal Circuit opinion in No. 24-1483 (Jan. 7, 2026), IPWatchdog, and PTAB/USPTO filings.