Maryellen Noreika

The Honorable Maryellen Noreika, now a United States District Judge for the District of Delaware, previously maintained a robust patent litigation practice for 25 years at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP in Wilmington, Delaware, where she became a partner in 2001. Her practice focused on complex patent cases across a diverse range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, consumer products, computer science, medical devices, and telecommunications.

During her career as an attorney, Judge Noreika primarily represented defendants in patent disputes, as reflected in her tracked appearances. Notable cases from her practice include serving as local counsel for Digimarc Corp. in Verance Corp. v. Digimarc Corp., a long-running dispute over digital watermarking technologies for audio and video content that ultimately settled. She also acted as of counsel for Wells Fargo & Company in Cyberfone Systems, LLC v. Wells Fargo & Company, a case involving patents related to mobile data transactions where the defendant successfully obtained a Federal Circuit affirmation of invalidity for the asserted patent claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Beyond these, she represented a drug manufacturer in a successful hydrocodone patent infringement suit and, as lead counsel, settled a trademark infringement case for nominal damages after two days of trial, having tried more than 30 cases to verdict during her career.

Judge Noreika earned her B.S. from Lehigh University in 1988, an M.A. in Biology from Columbia University in 1990, and a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1993, where she was a member of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review. She was admitted to the Delaware Bar. There is no publicly available information from her attorney profile or judicial nomination materials indicating regular appearances in PTAB or IPR proceedings.