Irene Lee is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, where she focuses her practice on all aspects of intellectual property, including patent, trademark, copyright, right of publicity and technology licensing.

In 2007, 2009 and 2010, Irene was selected as a "Rising Star" in a survey of intellectual property attorneys under the age of 40 conducted by Law & Policy Media, Inc., which was published in Los Angeles Magazine and the Southern California edition of Super Lawyers.

As a U.S. registered patent attorney, Irene employs her patent prosecution experience in strategizing patent litigation and licensing issues. Irene represents clients in a wide range of industries, including biotechnology, medical devices, computer software, video game system, houseware, food and beverage, and apparel.

In addition to patent litigation and licensing, Irene has extensive experience in trademark litigation and licensing with an emphasis on global brand expansion and management through strategic trademark and copyright protection and enforcement programs. She routinely counsels clients on trademark and copyright clearance, selection, prosecution, licensing and enforcement, both domestically and worldwide.  She also routinely provides legal counsel on clients’ advertising programs to ensure compliance with trademark, copyright, right of publicity, and privacy protection laws, and negotiates and drafts license agreements.

Irene’s representative matters include:

Litigation:

• Bosco Dev., Ltd., dba Avant Browser Labs v. Liveuniverse, Inc. – representing Bosco in ongoing commercial disputes in Los Angeles, California, involving transfer of invention rights in a downloadable web browser application and know-how.
• Absolute Software, Inc. v. Stealth Signal, Inc. – representing Absolute in ongoing patent infringement disputes in the Southern District of Texas, involving a number of patents for laptop tracking software and asset management software.
• Pinkberry, Inc. v. ME & AC, Inc. dba Kiwiberri – represented Pinkberry in a trademark infringement action in the Central District of California, resulting in a substantial settlement for Pinkberry.
• Dial Indus., Inc. v. Lipper Int’l, Inc. – successfully defended Lipper against patent infringement claims on summary judgment motion in the Central District of California, involving patents for expandable drawer organizers.
• Intergraph Corp. v. Hewlett-Packard Co. – represented Intergraph in a series of patent infringement actions against HP in the Northern District of California and Eastern District of Texas, resulting in a significant settlement for Intergraph.
• Custom Leather Craft Mfg. Co., Inc. v. Rooster Prod. Int’l, Inc. – successfully defended Rooster in a jury trial in the Central District of California, involving patents for protective kneepad.

Licensing:

• Counseled Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co. Ltd. on joint R&D arrangements for patented methods of cultivating and isolating embryonic cell populations.
• Counseled Beckman Coulter, Inc. on license agreements for patented fecal occult blood test products involving multiple parties, including Smithkline Diagnostics, Inc., Binax, Inc. and Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc.
• Counseled Alaris Med. Sys., Inc. on strategic alliance agreements with McKesson Automation, Inc., involving patented methods of collecting and managing real-time patient data.
• Counseled Pinkberry, Inc., Pinkberry Franchising Company and Pinkberry Production Company on asset purchase and investment arrangements with Maveron LLC, involving Pinbkerry’s trade secrets, know-how, trademarks, and copyright.

Prior to joining Russ August & Kabat in 2005, Irene was with McDermott Will & Emery LLP, where she was a member of its Intellectual Property, Media & Technology Department.

Irene received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School in 2000, where she served as the Vice President of St. Thomas More Honor Society from 1999 to 2000.  She earned her Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from UCLA in 1996.

Irene is fluent in Korean.