Frances Zhang is a litigator in the intellectual property litigation group, focusing on patent and copyright cases in the technology space. Her practice spans a wide array of technologies, including wireless communication standards, consumer electronics, artificial intelligence, operating systems, cloud computing, semiconductors, and biomedical and mechanical devices.
Frances has successfully litigated cases through trial in federal district courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and on appeal before the Federal Circuit. She has successfully argued in court, taken and defended fact and expert depositions, and drafted dispositive motions that secured favorable early resolutions for her clients.
Frances clerked for Judge Raymond T. Chen of the Federal Circuit. She graduated from Harvard Law School, during which she worked part time as a technical advisor for Ropes & Gray and tried criminal cases as a student prosecutor in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston.
Before law school, Frances earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from MIT. As a student, her research into data privacy practices of popular smartphone apps was featured in numerous news outlets, such as the Boston Globe. She is also the first named inventor on a patent related to speech recognition technology.
Experience
- Collision Communications, Inc. v. Nokia Corporation (E.D. Texas). Representing Collision in a multi-patent suit involving cellular communication technology.
- Volterra LLC v. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (D. Del.). Represented MPS in a multi-patent suit involving semiconductor technology. Drafted winning summary judgment motion on a contract issue and Daubert motion to exclude damages opinions that resulted in early dismissal of case.
- Godo Kaisha IP Bridge 1 v. TCL Communications Technology Holdings Ltd. (D. Del.). Represented IP Bridge in a jury trial asserting patents related to LTE standards. After a 7-day trial, the jury found all four patents not invalid and infringed and awarded FRAND damages.
- Imperium IP Holdings (Cayman) v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (E.D. Tex.). Represented Samsung in a patent infringement suit concerning image sensors. Responsible for patent invalidated by the jury after a 6-day trial.
- CareDx, Inc. v. Natera, Inc. (Fed. Cir.). Successfully defended Natera in an appeal involving ineligibility of patents related to detecting organ transplant rejection.
- Neural Magic, Inc. v. Meta Platforms, Inc. (D. Mass.). Represented Meta Platforms in trade secret case related to artificial intelligence algorithms.
- Apple, Inc. v. Corellium, LLC (S.D. Fla.). Represented Apple in a case involving copyright and DMCA claims related to virtualization of iOS.
- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (PTAB). Represented petitioner in an inter partes review concerning image sensors. All challenged claims were found invalid.
- Certain Wireless Devices with 3G and 4G Capabilities (ITC). Represented defendant Samsung Electronics against a patent infringement suit concerning 4G wireless communication standards. Participated in an 8-day trial involving seven patents.
*Some of the above matters were handled prior to joining Ropes & Gray.