Wendy Verlander

Wendy Verlander is a seasoned intellectual property litigator with over three decades of experience, currently serving as the managing partner at Verlander LLP. Her practice encompasses a wide array of technologies, including electronics, wireless communications, mobile devices, navigation, semiconductors, AI, and mechanical devices. She also possesses significant experience with design patents and IP transactional work, having negotiated over 100 patent licenses.

Ms. Verlander primarily focuses on representing patent owners in assertion and monetization efforts. This is reflected in her tracked cases, all four of which list her on the plaintiff side. She was the founder and CEO of Blackbird Technologies (also operating as Blackbird Tech LLC), a company known for its model of acquiring patents from individual inventors and small companies to monetize intellectual property through in-house litigation and licensing. Prior to Blackbird Technologies, Ms. Verlander was a partner at WilmerHale, where she represented both plaintiffs and defendants for major technology companies. Her current firm, Verlander LLP, also states it represents both plaintiffs and defendants in IP litigation.

Her notable case experience includes representing Blackbird Tech LLC in patent infringement lawsuits against Fitbit, Inc., Garmin International, Inc., TomTom, Inc., and Wahoo Fitness, LLC, concerning fitness tracker and navigation technologies. While many of Blackbird Technologies' cases settled, in Blackbird Tech LLC v. Fitbit, Inc. / Wahoo Fitness LLC, the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision finding one of Blackbird's patents (related to pedometers) unpatentable for obviousness. Additionally, the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Blackbird Tech LLC v. Cloudflare, Inc. after the district court invalidated the asserted patent on Section 101 grounds. A significant outcome also arose in Blackbird Tech LLC v. Health in Motion LLC, where the Federal Circuit upheld a district court's award of over $360,000 in attorney fees against Blackbird Technologies, citing the company's weak litigation positions and unreasonable conduct, with the Supreme Court denying further appeal. Ms. Verlander has also represented clients before the PTAB and is a speaker at PTAB-focused events.

Ms. Verlander is admitted to the New York and Massachusetts bars. She earned her law degree from Columbia University and holds both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.