Ryan R. Smith

Ryan R. Smith is a seasoned patent litigation partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, specializing in a broad range of technology areas including conversational AI and voice assistant technology, consumer electronics, semiconductors, computer networking, enterprise software, and financial technology. His practice demonstrates a balanced approach, representing both patent owners and defendants in federal courts nationwide, including before the U.S. International Trade Commission. Notably, his work for VB Assets, LLC, an IP holding entity associated with VoiceBox Technologies, has involved prosecuting patent infringement actions against major technology companies and defending VB Assets in related disputes.

Smith played a lead role in VB Assets, LLC v. Amazon.com Services LLC, a case named among Law.com's "Top 100 Verdicts of 2023". In that matter, a Delaware federal jury found Amazon willfully infringed four patents covering voice software technology related to its Alexa/Echo platform, awarding VB Assets $46.7 million in damages, later adjusted to over $40 million, with ongoing royalties also granted by the court. He was also involved in VB ASSETS, LLC v. Apple Inc., which settled under a confidential license agreement for seven patents concerning conversational AI and Siri voice assistant technology. Additionally, Smith was part of the team resolving VB Assets, LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., LTD. et al., a case involving six voice recognition and natural language understanding patents against Samsung's Bixby 2.0 platform, which concluded with a court-ordered dismissal suggesting a licensing resolution.

Beyond the voice AI litigation, Smith secured a jury trial victory for Epistar in Epistar v. Lowes, where the jury found willful infringement of LED filament bulb patents and awarded $2.1 million in damages. He also obtained a summary judgment victory for Thermal Shipping Solutions in a case involving recyclable shipping insulation, one of the first decisions to address new AIA exceptions to patent invalidity based on an on-sale bar. While specific individual appearances in IPR/PTAB proceedings are not detailed, cases he has handled, such as Amazon.com, Inc. et al. v. VB Assets, LLC, have involved PTAB invalidations of asserted patents, indicating his practice addresses these challenges.

Ryan R. Smith earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2003 and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, from the University of Washington in 2000. He is admitted to practice in California and Washington.