Jessica R. Bernhardt

Jessica R. Bernhardt is a Partner at Bartlit Beck LLP, specializing in complex, high-stakes litigation, including intellectual property disputes. Her patent litigation practice primarily involves representing plaintiffs in infringement actions.

Ms. Bernhardt's patent litigation experience spans technology areas such as hardware speech recognition systems and computer network security. She served as trial counsel for Zentian, Ltd. in patent infringement actions against Apple Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc., concerning speech recognition technologies used in features like "always on" wake words and dictation for Siri and Alexa. While some of these cases have seen Federal Circuit activity, including a voluntary dismissal in one instance, others involved challenges to patent validity originating from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Notably, in Apple Inc. v. Zentian Ltd., the Federal Circuit vacated a PTAB decision regarding obviousness, remanding for reconsideration. She also acted as trial counsel for a plaintiff in three computer network security patent infringement cases against Fortinet, all of which settled before trial.

Beyond patent litigation, Ms. Bernhardt has significant experience in broader commercial disputes. For example, she was trial counsel for Brunswick Corp. in a breach-of-contract and fraud case, securing a complete victory that was affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court.

Ms. Bernhardt earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School, graduating with high honors and serving as an Articles Editor on the Columbia Law Review. Prior to joining Bartlit Beck in 2022, she clerked for the Honorable Joel M. Flaum on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Honorable John Z. Lee on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.