SML Avvocati

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SML Avvocati P.C. — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Firm overview. SML Avvocati P.C. is a California professional corporation operating as a micro-boutique plaintiff's-side IP litigation shop, not BigLaw or a multi-office IP boutique. Its principal office of record is 888 Prospect Street, Suite 200, La Jolla/San Diego, CA 92037 (a San Diego mailing address at 4640 Cass St. #90142 also appears in directories). US News lists a single U.S. office; Salary.com estimates 1–5 employees. No AmLaw 200, Chambers, or Legal 500 ranking for the firm was located, and no verified attorney count or revenue figure is public — treat size indicators as estimates only. The firm is effectively built around Stephen M. Lobbin (California bar 1995; UCLA J.D.; UVA B.S. electrical engineering), previously of Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, The Eclipse Group, and Foundation Law Group.

IP litigation specialty. Practice areas are listed simply as intellectual property and litigation. The docket record shows a software/e-commerce-centric enforcement docket rather than a technical specialty boutique: automated business-and-financial transaction processing patents asserted against e-commerce sites (Landmark Technology's '319 patent), data distribution and multicast network channelization ('340 patent, Commstech), broadcast distribution systems (Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems), and mobile image-capture/geolocation verification. The firm also handles mechanical/consumer-product patents (Caravan Canopy's collapsible tent-frame '040 patent) and non-patent IP — trademark, trade dress, and commercial/trade-secret matters (Pocket Socks v. Louis Vuitton; Engineer.ai v. Kaufman). I found no evidence of Wi-Fi/standards-essential, pharma, or semiconductor work.

Side preference. Predominantly plaintiff-side. The tracked record is 1 plaintiff appearance and 0 defendant appearances, and that is consistent with the broader public record: Lobbin's docketed work is overwhelmingly representation of patent owners and NPEs (Landmark Technology, Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems, Commstech, Jezign Licensing) plus plaintiff-side trade dress and commercial litigation. No operating-company patent defense practice is evidenced in the available materials.

Notable tracked matters and public results. Landmark Technology, LLC v. Launchpad, Inc. (S.D. Cal. 3:17-cv-00892), asserting U.S. 6,289,319 against the Man Crates website, was filed May 3, 2017 and voluntarily dismissed with prejudice on June 15, 2017 — roughly six weeks later. One factual caveat: the public docket lists Jennifer Ishimoto (Banie & Ishimoto LLP) as plaintiff's counsel of record, and I could not independently confirm an SML Avvocati appearance in that specific case; the firm's appearance is drawn from your tracked case list. Elsewhere of note: the Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems campaign spanned multiple N.D. Cal. defendants (Nest Labs, Manything, Blue Jeans Network, VIAS, Epignosis); Caravan Canopy Int'l v. Costco, Lowe's, Walmart, ShelterLogic et al. (C.D. Cal. 8:19-cv-01072) on the '040 tent-frame patent. No jury verdict, Federal Circuit decision, or verified settlement amount for the firm was located. Two adverse public rulings are on the record: a February 5, 2025 S.D. Cal. opinion in the Kaotica/Iconic matter granting sanctions against Lobbin personally, jointly and severally with his client, under the court's inherent authority and 28 U.S.C. § 1927; and LCS Group, LLC v. Shire LLC (S.D.N.Y.), where a June 22, 2020 order held LCS Group, Lobbin, and Foundation Law Group jointly and severally liable for $133,803.75 in fees after his objections were deemed untimely.

PTAB / IPR practice and key personnel. Attorney-level PTAB records show Lobbin appearing in AIA proceedings on both petitioner and patent-owner sides, including pro hac vice petitioner work while at The Eclipse Group and more recent patent-owner representations. No firm-level IPR/PGR filing volume is publicly reported, so scale cannot be reliably stated — treat any figure as unsupported. Beyond Lobbin, attorneys appearing of record for the firm include Julia M. Skyhar, Christopher M. Ferri, Austin J. Richardson, and Adrian R. Lyons (per Law360's firm page and court filings); none of those attorneys has independent Chambers, AmLaw, or other ranking coverage that I could verify. Lobbin is the only firm attorney with a located third-party recognition — Super Lawyers 2024–2026 (Rising Stars 2004–2008).