Brian Smith is a leading trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience. His primary emphasis has and continues to be representing clients before district courts and courts of appeal in complex intellectual property cases involving a wide range of technologies including electronics, software, mechanics, cybersecurity and internet search technology. Brian’s practice has also included complex business litigation including trade secret, antitrust and unfair competition litigation. Brian has significant trial experience and has served as primary or co-lead counsel in numerous high stakes patent litigation matters in a variety of jurisdictions, including Texas, California, Illinois and Florida. He has served as primary or co-lead counsel in five jury trials in the Eastern District of Texas, winning all five of them – four plaintiff’s verdicts and one defense verdict. Brian also counsels companies on patent licensing and patent portfolio analysis.

Education

  • University of Minnesota Law School, J.D.
  • University of Minnesota, B.A. magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Professional Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
  • American Judicature Society Association of Business Trial Lawyers
  • Bar Association of San Francisco
  • San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association

Bar Admissions

  • State Bar of California
  • State Bar of Texas
  • Supreme Court of California
  • Supreme Court of Texas
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Central District of California
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

Honors & Awards

  • Named as a Northern California “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters from 2013-present

Representative Cases

Brian was part of the trial team that obtained an $845 Million judgment for ASML in one of the largest trade secret trial victories in US history (see attached Daily Journal and The Recorder articles), resulting in the Bartko firm being ranked as Number 3 in the Top 100 Verdicts  – published by The National Law Journal (June, 2019) – and having the highest ranked intellectual property victory in the United States. See attached award from the National Law Journal. In addition, the California Daily Journal’s Top Verdicts publication named the case the highest Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets victory in California for 2019 and the second highest judgment overall for 2019.

Publications & Speaking Engagements

  • ‘‘IP Law: Year in Review 2010.” American Corporate Counsel (ACC), San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, November 2010. Presented with James C. Pistorino.

Practice Areas