Bridget Smith

Bridget Smith is Partner at Lowenstein & Weatherwax LLP. I am a registered patent attorney specializing in trials before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, including inter partes reviews (IPR), post grant reviews (PGR), and covered business method proceedings (CBM). I was included in the 2019 Top 50 Women in PTAB Trials by the PTAB Bar Association. I have a master's degree in engineering, focusing on next-generation semiconductors. My first job was as an engineer at a Motorola semiconductor factory. Always wanting to "do it better," I wrote the software for a process-control ecosystem that saved Motorola millions annually. When I moved to my next challenge as a data scientist for a business software start-up later acquired by SAP, I applied my software design skills to optimize pricing data for Fortune 500 clients and provide software services crucial to $23 million in contracts. Fascinated by the impact that IP has for tech companies, my path led me to law school. Today, I make challenging technology accessible to investors, patent examiners, judges, and juries. Before joining Lowenstein & Weatherwax, I was a partner at Knobbe Martens and co-chair of the firm's Patent Office Trials Practice Group. I have represented both patent owners and challengers in over 85 Patent Office trials and subsequent appeals before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Behind the scenes, I advise the Patent Office on policy issues via my work with bar associations, and I am vice chair of the ABA-IPL USPTO Post-Grant Patent Practice and Policy Committee. I am currently the co-chair of the Orange County chapter of ChIPs, an organization dedicated to advancing women in intellectual property law. As an experienced software engineer and registered patent attorney with substantial experience challenging and defending patents before the PTAB and in district court, I am uniquely positioned to counsel clients on portfolio strategy. I work in several technical areas, including semiconductors, computer hardware and software, and business methods. I have specific experience in blockchain, smart contracts, distributed ledgers, cryptocurrencies, dApps, and web3. My clients have ranged from international conglomerates, to Fortune 1000 manufacturers, to pre-IPO startups.