Lee Bendekgey

I'll research this attorney's professional background before drafting.

Professional Summary — Lee Bendekgey (E. Lee / Elias Lee Bendekgey)

Specialty and focus. Bendekgey is not a career patent litigator but an in-house legal and finance executive whose IP exposure has been concentrated in genomics, molecular diagnostics, and life-science tools. The single tracked matter — Incyte Genomics, Inc. v. Affymetrix, Inc. — sits squarely in that space: DNA microarrays/gene chips, RNA amplification, and gene patents. His earlier practice, as a partner at Graham & James (later Squire Sanders & Dempsey), centered on intellectual property protection and licensing, corporate and commercial work, and technology transactions (notably software distribution deals), rather than courtroom patent advocacy. There is no tracked engagement in Wi-Fi/standards, mechanical, or pharmaceutical small-molecule patent litigation.

Side preference. Tracked data show one plaintiff-side appearance and zero defendant-side appearances, all in an in-house capacity. That framing understates the reality of the Incyte disputes, which ran both directions: Affymetrix sued Incyte/Synteni, and Incyte separately asserted its own RNA amplification patents against Affymetrix, sued Invitrogen, and litigated against Gene Logic. In all instances he acted for an operating company asserting or defending its own portfolio — never for an NPE/PAE, and never for a contingency-driven plaintiff.

Firm/company context. Bendekgey is in-house, not at a law firm. He served as General Counsel of Incyte Corporation (then Incyte Genomics/Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Palo Alto) from January 1998 to 2004, later becoming EVP and interim CFO. Subsequent GC/finance roles include Nuvelo, Inc. (SVP, GC and CFO, 2004–2009), DNAnexus, Inc. (GC, 2011–2013), and Invitae Corporation (CFO, then COO, then GC from 2020), with officer/director roles at CombiMatrix and Good Start Genetics. Before going in-house in 1993 he was a partner at Graham & James, where he founded the firm's Palo Alto office (1982–1993), followed by several legal roles at Silicon Graphics, Inc. (1993–1997).

Notable matters, PTAB, and credentials. The Affymetrix litigation produced concrete results under his supervision: summary judgment (May 2, 2001) that Incyte's cDNA arrays did not infringe the '934 patent or claims 1 and 3–13 of the '305 patent; summary judgment (Sept. 20 and Oct. 3, 2001) invalidating all claims of Affymetrix's '992 patent (indefiniteness of claims 1–3; lack of written description for claims 4–5); and a December 21, 2001 global settlement with cross-licenses. Related Stanford/Incyte matters settled December 2, 2002, with a December 4, 2002 final judgment holding claims 1–5 of the '992 patent invalid and remanding applications to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. His PTO experience is interference-era (Interference Nos. 104,358 and 104,359, in which the BPAI ruled against Incyte in September 1999), plus European oppositions — no public record of IPR/PGR appearances, consistent with a role that pre-dates the AIA trial regime. Admitted to the California bar in December 1982 (No. 104219); BA, Kalamazoo College; JD, Stanford Law School. His California license is currently listed as inactive/not eligible to practice for administrative noncompliance (fee/MCLE), not a disciplinary suspension. Note: all tracked appearances reflect him as in-house counsel overseeing litigation; he does not appear as counsel of record in the underlying dockets.