Irene Yang

Irene Yang is a highly experienced patent litigation attorney, currently serving as co-leader of Sidley Austin LLP's global IP Litigation practice. Her practice spans the high tech and life sciences industries, leveraging her background in computer science. She handles complex disputes involving a diverse array of technologies, including networking and telecommunications, software, semiconductors, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer devices, as well as cases concerning FRAND obligations for standard-essential patents.

Ms. Yang primarily represents defendants, particularly operating companies, in patent infringement suits. Her tracked cases include defending Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company in Atlas Global Technologies LLC v. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, which involves Wi-Fi standard features. Notably, she secured a defense jury verdict for a Fortune 500 company in a patent infringement suit in the Eastern District of Texas concerning e-commerce platforms. She also represented Microsoft in multi-patent litigation involving telecommunications, consumer electronics, and software, which settled favorably before trial. As appellate counsel for Block, Inc., she successfully argued for patent ineligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 at the Federal Circuit. While at Paul Hastings, Ms. Yang was counsel for the plaintiff, Implicit, LLC, in Sonos, Inc. v. Implicit, LLC, a case where the Federal Circuit ultimately affirmed the invalidity of the asserted patent related to content rendering synchronization following inter partes review proceedings.

Her experience extends to Post-Grant Review (PGR) and Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), as evidenced by her involvement in the Implicit v. Sonos litigation which originated from IPR challenges.

Ms. Yang is admitted to the State Bar of California. She earned her J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law (King Hall) in 2006 and holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University, earned in 2003.