Kieran Kieckhefer is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s San Francisco office and a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group. Her practice focuses on patent, technical trade secret, and copyright litigation. She is an experienced first-chair trial litigator whose cases have focused on a variety of technologies, including semiconductors, hardware, software, consumer electronics, networking, and cybersecurity.
Kieran has extensive experience litigating patent, trade secret, breach of employment contract, and Lanham Act cases in federal district courts across multiple jurisdictions. She has a breadth of experience before federal appellate courts, including the Ninth Circuit, Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court.
Representative Experience*
- Lead counsel for the leading company in artificial intelligence computing in three-patent defensive case currently pending in the Western District of Texas.
- Lead counsel for global professional services company in offensive trade secret competitor case currently pending in the Northern District of Texas.
- Lead counsel for global semiconductor manufacturing company in offensive technical trade secrets competitor case currently pending in California Superior Court; and in defensive technical trade secrets competitor case currently pending in the Northern District of California.
- Lead counsel for a computer drive manufacturer and data storage company in: (i) a three-patent offensive competitor case currently pending in the Northern District of California; (ii) a two-patent defensive competitor case involving error correction technology currently pending in the Western District of Texas; (iii) a two-patent case currently pending in the Western District of Texas involving USB technology; and (iv) a seven-patent case in the Western District of Texas involving semiconductor fabrication technology; successfully settled for the client.
- Lead counsel for an aerial geographic mapping data analytics company in: (i) an eight-patent offensive case involving roofing technology currently pending in the District of Utah; (ii) a nine-patent offensive case involving roofing technology currently pending in the District of Utah; and (iii) a three-patent offensive case involving roofing technology currently pending in the District of Delaware.
- Lead counsel for a computational software company in breach of contract and copyright infringement action currently pending before the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC); successfully resolved similar case.
- Lead counsel for a cloud contact center software company in (i) a case involving a breach of contract and related claims against a competitor; and (ii) a five-patent infringement action involving call center technology in the Northern District of California; successfully resolved for the client.
- Lead counsel for a workplace wellness company in a successfully settled case in the Central District of California involving trade secret, breach of contract, and violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claims against a former employee who left the company to join a competitor.
- Trial counsel for a cybersecurity services provider in a patent infringement action on computer networking technologies in the Northern District of California. Secured a jury verdict of $6.4 million in damages and a finding that the opposing party’s infringement was willful, and obtained a permanent injunction against the opposing party.
- Trial counsel for a memory channel storage company in a three-week jury trial in the Northern District of California concerning storage and memory modules. Obtained a verdict in favor of the client on breach of contract, technical trade secrets, and inventorship claims.
- Represented a technology company in a patent infringement action in the Northern District of California involving computer networking technologies. The case resulted in a successful settlement.
- Successfully represented a data and storage company in a patent, copyright, and trade secret infringement action in the Northern District of California. After a three-week trial, the jury awarded the client $112 million in damages.
- Successfully represented a manufacturing company in a four-month jury trial in the Central District of California. Obtained an $88 million verdict based on a finding of willful and malicious misappropriation of trade secrets. The case involved numerous claims, including copyright, trade secret, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), trademark and trade dress, and unfair competition.
- Represented a semiconductor company in a two-month jury trial in the Northern District of California regarding Sherman Act Section 2 violations alleged against the opposing party.
- Represented a technology company in a patent infringement case in the Northern District of California regarding a competitor’s assertion of memory technology patents against features incorporated in Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC)-standard dynamic random access memory (DRAM).
Chambers USA recognizes Kieran as a leading attorney for Intellectual Property: Trade Secrets, and The Legal 500 USA has named her a “Recommended Lawyer for Trade Secrets. Kieran, along with her colleagues, won Litigator of the Week in 2020 by the AmLaw Litigation Daily for her pro bono work for non-profit GNOME. Also in 2020, Kieran was recognized by Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List,” which honors “the top young talent in their respective litigation communities in the US.” IAM Patent 1000 has ranked Kieran as a leading patent individual in California, noting her litigation capabilities, leadership, and important contribution to the advancement of women in the legal profession. She continues to play an active role in the support, mentorship, and retention of women in law. In 2012, she had the privilege of serving the City and County of San Francisco as an assistant district attorney.
Kieran graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2007. She received a B.S. in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2002.
Kieran began her legal career at a major firm in California’s Silicon Valley. Most recently, she was a partner at a multinational law firm in San Francisco.
*Includes work performed at a previous firm.
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- University of Wisconsin - 2007 Juris Doctor
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 2002 Bachelor of Science
Admissions:
- California Bar
- Wisconsin Bar