Nimalka R. Wickramasekera

I'll research this attorney before drafting.

Professional Summary — Nimalka R. Wickramasekera

Focus areas. Wickramasekera's patent practice centers on life sciences, medical devices, and technology litigation. Her docket spans spinal and orthopedic implants (NuVasive/Alphatec, Warsaw Orthopedic/Medtronic), cardiac assist and blood-pump technology (Abbott v. Miracor, the HeartMate/LVAD IPRs), Hatch-Waxman/ANDA pharmaceutical work (Orexo, Eli Lilly, Supernus), and biotechnology (Evolve Biosystems v. Abbott). On the technology side she has handled telecommunications and packet-data matters, digital rights management, video/audio streaming, satellite systems, and mechanical/HVAC products. Her Winston bio also lists trade secret and commercial litigation, and she has served as trial counsel in ITC Section 337 investigations (Cisco v. Arista) and in Delaware Chancery competitor disputes.

Plaintiff/defendant posture. The tracked record shows 4 plaintiff-side and 2 defendant-side appearances (the two represented Abbott as plaintiff against Miracor, including parallel IPRs). The broader public record, however, is weighted toward defending operating companies: Alphatec, Abbott, Teva/Actavis, Medtronic/Warsaw, T-Mobile, Microsoft, Cisco, Energy Labs, and Boeing are all clients she has defended against competitor or NPE/PAE suits, in several instances via early motions to dismiss or preliminary-injunction defeats. She also takes select affirmative-assertion work for medtech and life sciences clients (Medtronic as plaintiff, Treace Medical Concepts v. Zimmer Biomet, and DePuy v. Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital on the licensing side).

Firm context. She has been at Winston & Strawn's Los Angeles office since September 2017 (the firm is now Winston Taylor following the 2026 combination) and is co-chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice and co-chair of its PTAB practice. Before Winston she was an intellectual property litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis in Los Angeles; the tracked case list also shows one earlier "Of Counsel" appearance at Stinson, which I could not independently verify from public sources. Before law school she worked as a researcher at Abbott Laboratories and Eli Lilly.

Notable matters and outcomes. Second-chair trial counsel in Warsaw Orthopedic (Medtronic) v. NuVasive (S.D. Cal.), where the jury found infringement of all three asserted patents and awarded $101.2M. As lead counsel for Alphatec in NuVasive v. Alphatec, she defeated a preliminary injunction and reduced exposure from more than $30M to $1.14M, won a six-week jury trial on tortious-interference claims, and obtained a complete Delaware Chancery defense judgment affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court; she argued the related Federal Circuit appeal (No. 20-2245, decided Feb. 11, 2022). She represented Teva/Actavis in Orexo v. Actavis (D. Del.), a jury verdict clearing $41M in claimed damages (AmLaw "Litigator of the Week" runner-up), and in Evolve Biosystems v. Abbott (N.D. Ill.), where the court held the asserted patent claims anticipated and rejected the false-advertising claims (Am Law shout-out, February 2025). She is lead trial counsel in Treace Medical Concepts v. Zimmer Biomet (D. Del., filed 2025) and represents Abbott as petitioner in the six instituted Abbott v. Miracor Medical IPRs (IPR2025-00096, -112 through -116).

PTAB/IPR experience. She co-chairs Winston's PTAB practice and appears regularly in post-grant proceedings, generally as back-up counsel alongside a registered lead counsel — she is not identified in the public record as a USPTO-registered practitioner and appears in IPRs on a pro hac vice basis. Her PTAB work includes arguing as patent owner's counsel for Warsaw Orthopedic in NuVasive v. Warsaw Orthopedic (IPR2013-00395), representing Alphatec in IPRs against NuVasive's spinal patents, and the Abbott/Miracor and Medtronic/Axonics proceedings.

Bar and education. Admitted in Illinois (2006) and California (2009); also admitted before the Federal Circuit, Ninth Circuit, and the C.D. Cal., S.D. Cal., and D. Colo. district courts. J.D., The John Marshall Law School, 2006 (magna cum laude); B.S. in molecular, cell & developmental biology, UCLA, 1999.

Note: the Stinson affiliation and the specific case names behind the four "untitled" tracked appearances could not be independently confirmed; everything above is drawn from firm biographies, PTAB filings, and court dockets.