Benjamin T. Wang is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, where he is a member of the firm's litigation and intellectual property litigation groups. Mr. Wang's practice focuses on complex business and intellectual property litigation at both the trial court and appellate court levels.

In 2009, Mr. Wang was appointed to a three year-term on the California State Bar's Committee on Federal Courts. In 2008, 2009, and 2010, Mr. Wang was selected for inclusion in Los Angeles Magazine's Southern California "Rising Stars" in general litigation.

Mr. Wang earned his law degree from USC Gould School of Law, where he graduated as a member of the honor society Order of the Coif. While at USC, Mr. Wang was the Executive Notes Editor of the Southern California Law Review, authored "Supplying the Tax Shelter Industry: Contingent Fee Compensation for Accountants Spurs Production," 76 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1237 (2003), received the James Tam Award for academic excellence, was a legal writing instructor, and served as a teaching assistant for Professor George Lefcoe's Real Estate Transactions and Real Estate Finance courses. Mr. Wang was also an extern in the Trustee Program of the United States Department of Justice.

Prior to joining Russ August & Kabat, Mr. Wang served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ferdinand F. Fernandez, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2005-2006), and to the Honorable George H. King, District Judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California (2004-2005). Mr. Wang also was an associate at Irell & Manella LLP, where he was a member of the intellectual property, litigation, and appellate work groups.

Representative Matters

• Knowles Electronics, LLC v. AAC Acoustic Technologies Holdings Inc., et al., (N.D. Ill.) – Represented AAC, a developer and manufacturer of miniature audio components, in a trade secret case. After two months of expedited discovery, including expert reports, over twenty depositions taken throughout the country and around the world, over four emergency motions by opposing counsel, and an eleven-day hearing before the Honorable John Grady, the Court ruled completely in AAC's favor, finding that the purported trade secrets were not trade secrets and were not used by AAC. Mr. Wang served as part of the trial team and took the direct examination of AAC's corporate representative.
• St. Jude Medical, Inc., et al. v. Access Closure, Inc. (W.D. Ark.) – Represented St. Jude in a patent infringement case involving vascular closure devices. Vascular closure devices are used to close holes in arteries made during diagnostic and interventional cardiovascular procedures. After a seven-day jury trial, the jury rejected the defendant's claims that the patents were invalid in light of the prior art and for allegedly omitting a purported inventor. The jury returned a verdict in favor of St. Jude, finding that the defendant willfully infringed St. Jude's patents and awarding damages of $27.1 million in lost profits and reasonable royalty damages, representing one of the largest patent infringement verdicts in the District. Mr. Wang served as part of the trial team with a primary focus on issues relating to damages.
• Peer Communications Corp. v. Skype, Inc., et al. (E.D. Tex.) – Represented defendants eBay and Skype in a patent infringement case related to internet communications, including what is known as VoIP (voice over internet protocol). The plaintiff was a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corp. After claim construction, the district court entered judgment for eBay and Skype based on patent invalidity and dismissed the case with prejudice. The judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
• Patton v. Estate Strategies, Inc., et al. (Cal. App.) – Represented amici curiae Bet Tzedek, Public Counsel, and several other advocacy groups before the California Courts of Appeal in successfully urging the Court to allow an elderly individual's claims to proceed solely in Superior Court, rather than in multiple forums, such as arbitration, civil litigation, and probate court. The amicus brief and oral argument highlighted the unique problems faced by elder abuse victims, including the all too common occurrence that elderly plaintiffs are forced to endure multiple and possibly conflicting proceedings.
• Zenith Electronics Corp. v. Thomson, Inc., et al. (E.D. Tex.) – Represented Thomson in a patent infringement case involving high definition set-top boxes. The case settled favorably for Thomson.
• Net2Phone, Inc. v. Skype, Inc., et al. (D. N.J.) – Represented Skype and eBay in a patent infringement case involving computer networking technology. The case settled favorably for defendants Skype and eBay.
• eBay Inc. v. IDT, et al. (W.D. Ark.) – Represented eBay in a patent infringement case involving a system for bridging telephone networks with the Internet. The case settled favorably for eBay.
• Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation v. Intel (W.D. Wis.) – Represented Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation ("WARF"), the designated technology transfer organization for the University Wisconsin, in a patent infringement case involving computer processors. The case settled favorably for WARF.
• Mr. Wang has also advised clients involved with well-known social networking websites in cases alleging antitrust violations, securities fraud, copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract.

Top of Page