Puja Patel Lea

Puja Patel Lea — patent litigation practice summary

Focus areas. Lea is an Atlanta-based IP litigator whose practice centers on patent disputes, with additional trademark and copyright work, across consumer electronics, semiconductors, telecommunications, automotive/infotainment, and software technologies (per her Troutman Pepper Locke firm profile). She has litigated in Delaware, Texas, California, Georgia, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and Tennessee, and maintains a substantial Section 337 practice before the International Trade Commission, including matters using the ITC's 100-day early disposition program. Her two tracked appearances are consistent with that profile: a vehicle infotainment/connected-car patent dispute (General Motors Company v. AutoConnect Holdings LLC) and solar electrical balance-of-systems hardware (Shoals Technologies Group, LLC v. Voltage, LLC).

Side preference. She is genuinely two-sided, consistent with the tracked 1 plaintiff / 1 defendant split. Her firm bio describes lead defense work for an electronic-device manufacturer and a flooring company, alongside plaintiff-side representations (jury verdict of willful infringement plus a fee award for a ceramic grinding media manufacturer; copyright verdict for an artist plaintiff). IAM's Patent 1000 directory has ranked her in Georgia for patent litigation (Bronze 2023; Silver 2024–2026), and her Best Lawyers recognition is in Litigation – Intellectual Property (2020–2026). Working both sides — including against NPE-style patent owners — is the accurate characterization rather than an NPE/PAE prosecution practice.

Firm context. She is a partner at Troutman Pepper Locke in Atlanta (the firm resulting from the Troutman Pepper/Locke Lord combination; the Shoals case as tracked was filed under the earlier "Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders" name, and she appears in older profiles as a Troutman Sanders lawyer). Her tracked appearance for General Motors Company v. AutoConnect Holdings LLC was as Of Counsel at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, on the defense side. She also serves as an adjunct professor of IP law at Georgia Tech. Note: a similarly named "Puja Parikh" at Benesch is a different attorney and should not be conflated with her.

Notable matters and outcomes. In Shoals Technologies Group v. Voltage, LLC (M.D.N.C. and ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1438), she is named on the Troutman team that obtained a February 2026 ITC ALJ initial determination of a Section 337 violation on two Shoals patents, together with non-institution of IPR petitions against those patents; the broader matter produced a $96.4 million willful-infringement jury verdict and injunction in August 2026 (the firm's trial-team announcement for the verdict does not list her). Her published representative matters include a Federal Circuit affirmance of a willful-infringement verdict and fee award for a grinding media manufacturer, a Section 101 early dismissal affirmed on appeal, two semiconductor-substrate Section 337 investigations resolved by favorable settlement, and IPRs for a foreign government research organization.

PTAB/IPR. Her profile expressly cites experience coordinating district court litigation with parallel inter partes review proceedings and handling IPRs (including related Federal Circuit appeals), though the tracked case list contains no standalone PTAB appearance and PTAB docket records are not attributed to her individually here.

Bar and education. J.D., University of Georgia School of Law, cum laude (2009); B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology, with highest honors (2006). Published admissions include the Federal Circuit, the Second Circuit, the Northern District of Georgia, and the Supreme Court of Georgia.