Matthew R. Stephens

Matthew R. Stephens is a Partner in the Intellectual Property Litigation group at Morrison & Foerster, based in the firm's San Diego office. He was elected to the partnership effective January 1, 2025. His practice encompasses a broad range of IP matters, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret litigation across district courts, the Federal Circuit, and the International Trade Commission. Stephens advises clients on IP protection and litigation avoidance strategies.

Stephens primarily represents defendants, evidenced by his appearances in all tracked cases on the defendant side. His experience spans diverse technology areas, including medical devices, telehealth, drones, cellular technologies, financial technologies, and data software. A notable engagement includes serving as lead counsel for Amazon.com Services LLC in Smart Speaker LLC v. Amazon.com Services LLC, a case involving smart speaker technology. This case has related inter partes review (IPR) proceedings (IPR2026-00145 and IPR2026-00148) filed by Amazon against Smart Speaker LLC.

Further demonstrating his defense-oriented practice, Stephens secured a summary judgment win for NeoGenomics, Inc.. He also obtained a significant settlement for Virtru Corp. in data encryption patent litigation against Microsoft.

Stephens is admitted to practice in California and Texas. He earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law and holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California.