Christy Lea

Christy Lea is a seasoned patent litigator and Partner at Knobbe Martens, specializing in complex, high-stakes patent and trade secret disputes across various technology areas. Her practice primarily focuses on the medical device and pharmaceutical industries, as evidenced by her co-chairmanship of the firm's Medical Device Litigation practice and her work on cases such as Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH v. Ellodi Pharmaceuticals, L.P.. She has over two decades of experience advocating for clients ranging from innovative startups to global leaders.

Lea frequently represents clients on the plaintiff side, including in the tracked case Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH v. Ellodi Pharmaceuticals, L.P., where she served as counsel for the plaintiff. Her work also includes significant defense roles, such as defending Pavemetrics Systems and securing the dismissal of patent infringement theories for Edwards Lifesciences. She has a strong track record of success at both the trial and appellate levels.

A notable outcome in her career includes co-leading a trial team that secured a $70 million jury verdict, with an additional $21 million in enhanced damages, for CardiAQ in a trade secrets misappropriation case against Neovasc Inc. This verdict was ranked among the top IP and overall verdicts by The National Law Journal. She also represents Edwards Lifesciences in district court and before the PTAB, and has handled numerous litigations and PTAB trials for Smith & Nephew, including those related to "negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) wars" and orthopedics cases.

Lea possesses extensive experience with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), having served as lead counsel in numerous inter partes (IPR) and post-grant (PGR) review proceedings. This includes ongoing representation of clients like Edwards Lifesciences and Smith & Nephew in PTAB matters. She earned her J.D. with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2000 and holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi, received in 1997. She is admitted to the State Bar of California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. District Court - Central District of California, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.