Rachael D. Lamkin

I'll research this attorney before drafting.

Let me verify PTAB/IPR activity and a few case outcomes.

Rachael D. Lamkin — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus areas. Lamkin's practice centers on patent litigation defense in electronics and software, with a recognized niche in defending operating companies against non-practicing entities. Her docket skews to consumer electronics, GPS/navigation and wearable devices, mobile-device sensor and context-detection software, health/fitness monitoring, voice and digital-content technology, and device accessories. She has litigated in the Central, Northern, and Southern Districts of California, the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, the ITC (Section 337), the Court of International Trade, and the Federal Circuit, and has coordinated parallel European and Chinese proceedings. Nothing in the record suggests life-sciences/pharma or mechanical work.

Side preference. Overwhelmingly defense-side. Her tracked appearances are 0 plaintiff / 2 defendant, both as lead counsel, and both entries appear to be the same matter (Context Directions LLC v. Garmin International, Inc., C.D. Cal. No. 2:22-cv-01360) filed twice in the source data — so the effective tracked footprint is a single defended case. Baker Botts describes her as litigating "from both sides of the v" but with a defense specialty, and her representative client list (Garmin, Starbucks, Nuance, CompanyCam, Foxit, True Grit Texture Supply) is entirely accused-infringer/defendant work. She is not an NPE-side prosecutor.

Firm context. Partner in Baker Botts LLP's IP Litigation group in San Francisco since June 2023. Before that she founded and ran Lamkin IP Defense (2016–2023) — the firm of record on both tracked appearances — and earlier served as Senior Associate General Counsel for the OtterBox / LifeProof / Blue Ocean family of companies. Court filings confirm she is admitted in California (State Bar No. 246066), the Eastern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Michigan, the ITC, the Court of International Trade, and the Federal Circuit. J.D., UC Davis School of Law (2006); B.A., California State University, Sacramento (2000).

Notable matters and outcomes. In Philips North America LLC v. Garmin International, Inc. (C.D. Cal.), she was lead counsel and argued for Garmin in the Federal Circuit appeal (No. 22-2255); the six-patent case was reduced to three, the '007 patent fell at claim construction, and the firm credits her with a summary-judgment win. Reuters reported in 2023 that she defeated two Garmin patent cases together valued at roughly $1 billion. In the tracked Context Directions case, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed with prejudice in May 2022 after Garmin answered and counterclaimed. Other firm-reported results include an early § 101 win plus a fee award in Rothschild Digital Confirmation, LLC v. CompanyCam, Inc. (D. Del. 2021), a Rule 12(c) win and fee award in Kindred Studio v. Eclipse IP (where the NPE agreed never to sue in California again), summary-judgment wins for Nuance in Synkloud and Eloqui Voice Systems, and defense of a constitutional challenge to state anti-patent-troll statutes in Landmark Technology v. Azure Farms. She has also been personally named as a defamation defendant by NPE principal Leigh M. Rothschild (Rothschild v. Starbucks, S.D. Fla.), where she moved for summary judgment and Anti-SLAPP fees; the outcome there is not verified in the sources reviewed.

PTAB / IPR. Her practice touches PTAB work — her firm bio cites PTAB experience, and she litigated the Philips matter in parallel with an instituted IPR on the '233 patent, using IPR positions offensively on infringement. Public records reviewed, however, do not show her as named lead counsel on IPR or PGR petitions, so I would not describe her as a regular first-chair PTAB practitioner without further confirmation.

Sourcing note: the "Lamkin" reference appearing in a recent Google IPR petition is a prior-art reference, not this attorney. Recognition: Daily Journal "Top IP Lawyers" (2025) and California Legal Awards "Women Leaders in Tech Law" — Intellectual Property (2024).