Vera M. Elson

Vera M. Elson: Professional Summary
As of May 2, 2026

Vera M. Elson is a highly experienced patent and intellectual property litigator, now Partner Emeritus at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Her practice has been consistently focused on defending technology companies in high-stakes patent infringement and trade secret litigation. With a background in cybernetics and electrical engineering, including designing high-speed circuits for Hughes Aircraft prior to her legal career, Elson has specialized in complex technologies such as medical devices, computer hardware and storage, network servers, and software.

Consistent with the single tracked case where she served as lead defense counsel for Monolithic Power Systems, Elson's career has been heavily weighted towards defending operating companies against infringement allegations. Her biography and published case results show a clear pattern of representing defendants in federal district courts and the International Trade Commission (ITC). Notable public victories include securing a complete defense jury verdict for Extreme Networks against assertions from Lucent/AT&T and prevailing on summary judgment for Seagate Technology in a case involving computer storage patents.

Now retired from active practice, Elson was a long-time partner at Wilson Sonsini, and also practiced at Sidley Austin and McDermott Will & Emery. Her work included handling litigation strategy that interfaced directly with Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings. For example, she was counsel for Minerva Surgical in its litigation against Hologic, where a PTAB decision invalidating a patent-in-suit was central to the dispute at the district court, the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Elson earned her B.S. in Cybernetics and an M.S. in Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and her J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. She is admitted to practice in California and is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.