Jeff Nardinelli

Jeff Nardinelli is Partner in the Firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice. Based in San Francisco, his practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, with an emphasis on emerging technologies including cybersecurity, AI, cryptocurrency, finance and life sciences. He has successfully represented leading companies, including Google, Waymo, Samsung, Buf, Natera, Swan Bitcoin and Ripple, in patent, trade secret and other technology-focused litigation.

Notable experience prior to joining Simpson Thacher includes:

• In separate patent suits for clients Airbnb and Tile, obtained walkaway dismissals with prejudice without having to file a responsive pleading or motion.
• Represented plaintiff Waymo LLC in a high-profile trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement action in the Northern District of California related to Waymo’s LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and self-driving technology against Uber Technologies, Inc. and Ottomotto LLC.
• Obtained a complete defense jury verdict in a six-patent case for client KeyMe in the Eastern District of Texas, before Judge Gilstrap.  The patents asserted by competitor The Hillman Group covered mechanically-based machines for key duplication, whereas KeyMe’s machines used convolutional neural networks (AI) to image and duplicate keys.  Hillman sought crippling reasonable royalty and lost profits damages, but the jury credited that KeyMe’s AI-based technology did not infringe Hillman’s older patents, found no infringement, and also found most of the 18 asserted claims invalid. 
• For fintech startup Twelve Data, successfully defended against and settled a trade secret lawsuit filed by Nasdaq stemming from the alleged misappropriation of Nasdaq’s financial data.
• Obtained a rare preliminary injunction in the Southern District of Florida for Prosperity Tax Advisors, successfully stopping a former employee from using company information to poach clients for a competing venture.
• In the District of Delaware, obtained a complete defense verdict on behalf of a global technology company in a patent case involving technology used in mobile music players.
• Represented unicorn startup Rippling in trade secret and RICO litigation against Deel in a case involving allegations that Deel’s executive leadership committed corporate espionage by, among other things, bribing a then-Rippling employee to exfiltrate data.
• Represented Wisk Aero in a trade secret and patent infringement case against Archer Aviation.  The patents and trade secrets involved electric vertical takeoff and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft. 
• Obtained a $14M jury verdict for cybersecurity company Cloudmark LLC (a subsidiary of Proofpoint, Inc.) in a trade secret and copyright case against competitor Vade Secure.  The case involved trade secrets and source code relating to technologies for detecting and blocking “spear phishing” emails.  The jury ruled for Proofpoint, finding willful and malicious misappropriation. 
• Defended Samsung in a patent case involving standard-essential patents relating to the 5G cellular communications protocol.
• In a trade secret case for a pre-IPO technology company, obtained a voluntary injunction prohibiting a former employee from using company information at a new venture.
• Represented the defendant in an employment-related class action, successfully limiting the class to only ten members, leading to favorable settlement.
• Obtained a jury verdict of non-infringement for Markforged in a three-week “bet the company” jury trial.  The case had been filed by competitor Desktop Metal in the District of Massachusetts, and involved patents directed to 3D printing technology. 
• Represented Natera in a patent litigation in the District of Delaware, obtaining a jury verdict for $96 million in lost profits and reasonable royalty damages against competitor CareDx.  The patents related to non-invasive, cell-free DNA-based testing for organ transplant rejection.
• On behalf of Hebei Hengbo, a supplier to Apple, obtained a favorable settlement in a contract dispute relating to Hebei Hengbo’s provision to Apple of raw alumina for use in iPhone displays.
• Represented third party Google in the multiple “smartphone wars” patent cases brought by Apple in the Northern District of California, the Southern District of Florida, the Eastern District of Texas, and the International Trade Commission.
• On behalf of a prominent Wall Street trading firm, asserted claims for trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract against two former traders in the Southern District of New York.  The case resolved prior to trial.

Jeff earned his J.D. with highest honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2012, where he graduated in the top 1% of his class and was recognized as Susman Godfrey Moot Court Competition Champion & Best Advocate and Chancellors Honor Society Keeper of the Peregrinus. He received his B.A. from Stanford University in 2008.