Colleen R. Smith

Practice focus. Colleen R. Smith is a partner at Stris & Maher LLP (elevated to partner effective January 1, 2025; joined the firm in 2022), where she is primarily a trial and appellate litigator in complex commercial disputes, high-stakes appeals, and civil rights cases, rather than a dedicated patent specialist. Her firm biography notes experience across financial services, life sciences, and media/communications, and William & Mary Law School has described her practice as spanning "complex litigation, intellectual property and high-stakes federal appeals." Her sole tracked patent matter is pharma-related: she served as appellate counsel for HEC Pharm, the generic challenger, in Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. v. HEC Pharm Co. (Federal Circuit / U.S. Supreme Court). Before Stris & Maher, she practiced at Covington & Burling LLP (Washington, D.C.) and Hawley Troxell (Boise), following three federal clerkships (E.D. Va., Ninth Circuit, D. Idaho).

Side and notable case. On the tracked patent docket, Smith is 0-for-1 on the plaintiff side and 1-for-1 for defendants — she represents accused infringers/generic challengers. In Novartis v. HEC Pharm, the Federal Circuit initially affirmed that HEC infringed Novartis's Gilenya (fingolimod) patent, but on rehearing vacated that decision and held the claims invalid for inadequate written description of a negative claim limitation (the "no loading dose" requirement). Smith was on the Stris & Maher team that then opposed Novartis's certiorari petition, arguing the invalidity ruling was a fact-bound application of settled § 112 law. Her firm profile describes her as a lead brief writer in landmark appeals, with notable wins in ERISA appeals (e.g., Knight v. IBM, Second Circuit) — though those are outside the patent space.

PTAB and credentials. No IPR/PGR appearances were identified in the tracked data or public sources; her patent exposure appears to be in district court and Federal Circuit/Supreme Court appellate advocacy rather than Patent Trial and Appeal Board practice. She is admitted in Idaho, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and holds a J.D. from William & Mary Law School (2015, valedictorian, summa cum laude) and a B.S. in Mathematics from the College of Idaho (2011).