John D. Esterhay
- San Diego
- Los Angeles
Informed by his background in materials science and engineering, John successfully represents companies in complex commercial litigations where advanced technical issues are at stake.
John Esterhay represents clients in matters involving patent, trade secret, breach of contract, and business tort litigations. John’s clients range from Fortune 500 companies to niche manufacturers facing bet-the-company litigation on their proprietary technology. His experience in handling dozens of cases in federal district court has helped him amass in-depth knowledge of many types of highly technical litigation.
Prior to his legal career, John utilized his engineering background at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and his skills in cryptanalysis at the U.S. National Security Agency. This broad base of technical experience has allowed John’s legal practice to span a variety of industries, including advanced analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, synchronous step-down converters, multiphase controllers, power integrated circuits, and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors. He has also worked on matters related to wireless and cellular network communications, heat dissipation technology, solid state drives, double data rate synchronous dynamic random-access memory (DDR SDRAM), optics, e-commerce, mobile application technology, touch sensors, medical, power storage, automotive, and de-icing technology.
John also maintains an active pro bono practice, working on asylum proceedings for immigrants who arrive at the Tijuana-San Ysidro border crossing. He has successfully obtained asylum for multiple pro bono clients facing persecution, torture, or worse in their home countries, for which he has received a Pro Bono Publico award.
Areas of focus
Industries
Services
Education & Credentials
Education
- Yale Law School, J.D., Editor-in-Chief, Yale Journal of Law and Technology, 2010
- Columbia University, B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, C. Prescott Davis Scholar, 2007
Bar and Court Admissions
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California
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New York
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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
Related Employment
- U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, Bridgeport, CT, Legal Prosecution Extern, 2008-2009
- U.S. Department of Justice, Counterterrorism Section, Washington, DC, Summer Legal Intern, 2008
Professional Recognition
Recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Intellectual Property Law; Litigation - Intellectual Property, 2021-2024
Awarded Pro Bono Publico by Casa Cornelia Law Center, 2018
Insights
News
Professional Experience
Patent Litigation
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. v. Meraki Integrated Circuit (Shenzhen) Technology, Ltd.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Counsel for plaintiff Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. in a lawsuit currently pending before Judge Alan D. Albright alleging patent infringement of three patents, trade secret misappropriation, tortious interference and unfair competition related to synchronous rectification technology in AC/DC converters.
Sterno Home, Inc. v. L&L Candle Company, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Counsel for L&L Candle Company defendants in a lawsuit before Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. alleging patent infringement on six patents related to flameless candles; settled favorably after a stay was granted for defendants.
Largan Precision Co., Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Counsel for Largan Precision in a six-patent case before Judge Sabraw concerning optical lenses in smartphones, tablets, and other products; case terminated via settlement eight days before trial.
Largan Precision, Company Ltd. v. Genius Electronic Optical Co.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Counsel for Largan in patent litigation concerning optical lens structures; case terminated via settlement after motion for summary judgment of infringement was granted.
Ameranth, Inc. v. Starbucks Corp.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Counsel for Starbucks in pending patent litigation before Judge Sabraw related to mobile payment and mobile ordering; obtained dismissal on summary judgment motion based on Alice and Section 101.
Barkan Wireless Access Technologies, L.P. v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Counsel for T-Mobile in a patent case related to wireless networking and related inter partes review (IPR) proceedings challenging patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark office; case dismissed by plaintiff with prejudice after successful IPR petitions against the patents-in-suit.
Blue Spike, LLC v. InfoSonics corporation d/b/a Verykool
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Counsel for InfoSonics in patent case related to Address Space Layout Randomization (“ASLR”) technology.
Morpho Komodo LLC v. InfoSonics corporation d/b/a Verykool
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Counsel for InfoSonics in patent case related to digital signature technology.
Rothschild Storage Retrieval Innovations, LLC v. HTC Corporation and HTC America, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Counsel for HTC in a one-patent case before Magistrate Judge Laporte concerning camera, image filtering, and image transmission functionality in smartphones; case transferred to the Northern District of California; stayed during the pendency of an inter partes review trial involving the asserted patent; the parties jointly moved for entry of a stipulated order of dismissal of all claims with prejudice; the order was granted, terminating the litigation.
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. v. Silergy Corporation, Compal Electronics, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Counsel for Monolithic Power Systems in litigation including claims for breach of contract and infringement of three patents related to chip scale, flip chip and microelectronic packages for power integrated circuits; settled favorably.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. and ASUS Computer International v. Round Rock Research
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Counsel for ASUS in a six-patent case before Judge Alsup and Judge Tigar concerning flash memory, SDDRAM memory, and image sensor components in ASUS PC-related products; settled favorably shortly before trial.
Round Rock Research v. ASUSTeK Computer Inc. And ASUS Computer International
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Counsel for ASUS in a nine-patent case before Judge Andrews (DE) and Judge Wilken (NDCA) concerning DDR1-3 SDRAM memory (data strobe, ODT and write leveling), SSD NAND flash memory, LCD, Bluetooth, USB 3.0, BIOS, CMOS image sensor components in ASUS PC-related products; settled favorably.
TMC Aerospace, Inc v. Elbit Systems Limited and Elbit Systems of America
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Counsel for Elbit in a patent infringement and trade secret case related to de-icing technology on unmanned aerial vehicles designed for military use; settled favorably following successful partial motion to dismiss that eliminated all business tort claims.
Oy Ajat Ltd. v. Genoray Co. Ltd. And Genoray America, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Counsel for Genoray in a three-patent case before Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. and Magistrate Judge David A. Baker concerning power supply and image processing for dental x-ray imaging equipment; settled favorably.
Shenzhen Auto-Vox Technology Co., Ltd., v. The Noco Company
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Counsel for Auto-Vox in litigation including claims tortious interference and declaratory judgment of noninfringement of a design patent, and declaratory judgment of invalidity, unenforceability, cancellation, and non-infringement of a trademark; complaint dismissed.
Lund Motion Products, Inc. v. T-Max (Hangzhou) Technology Co., Ltd., T-Max (Qingdao) Industrial Co., Ltd., T-Max (Qingdao) International Trading Co., Ltd., And T-Max Industrial (Hk) Co., Ltd.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Counsel for T-Max in a three-patent and one-copyright case before Judge Cormac J. Carney and Magistrate Judge Jean P. Rosenbluth concerning retractable vehicle step automotive accessories and related inter partes review (IPR) proceedings challenging patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark office; pending.
In The Matter Of Certain Touchscreen Controllers And Products Containing Same, U.S. International Trade Commission Investigation No. 337-TA-957
Counsel for Respondents Shenzhen Huiding Technology Co., Ltd. (d.b.a. Goodix) and Goodix Technology Inc. in a four-patent investigation before ALJ Essex (later transferred to ALJ McNamara) concerning touchscreen controllers used in smartphones; settled favorably after the hearing. At the time of the hearing, the Office of Unfair Import Investigations recommended a finding of no violation. Participated in filing of nine inter partes review (IPR) petitions during the pendency of the investigation challenging the asserted patents, five of which were instituted and four pending at the time of settlement.
Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG v. Tektronix, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Counsel for Tektronix in a patent case before Judge S. James Otero concerning multi-domain test and measurement instruments; case settled favorably after claim construction order in defendant’s favor.
Trade Secret and other Complex Commercial Litigation
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. v. Wei Dong and Lin Sheng
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Counsel for Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. in a lawsuit currently pending before Judge Jeffrey S. White alleging breach of contract, fraud and violations of the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act.
John Ledgerwood & Uncle Biff’s Inc. v. Marlena Roldan and Uncle Biffs Solana Beach LLC
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Counsel for Defendants in a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, trademark infringement, unfair competition and unjust enrichment; settled favorably and dismissed.
Decision Sciences International Corporation v. VoXcell Cloud LLC and AI Visualize Inc.
American Arbitration Association
Counsel for Claimant Decision Sciences in arbitration alleging breach of contract; first chair lead counsel for arbitration hearing, with order pending.
ValveTech, Inc. v. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
Counsel for ValveTech, Inc. in a lawsuit before Chief Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. alleging breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation, and unfair competition; pending.
Vanguard Pai Lung, LLC et al. v. William Moody et al.
North Carolina Superior Court – Business Court Division
Counsel for Plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging fraud, embezzlement, tortious interference, and other business torts; pending.
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. v. Intersil Corporation
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
Counsel for Monolithic Power Systems in litigation including claims for trade secret misappropriation, tortious interference, disparagement, defamation and unfair competition; pending.
IP Cube Partners Co., Ltd. v. Telecommunication Systems, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Counsel for TeleCommunication Systems Inc. in an IP asset sale contractual dispute before Judge Laura Taylor Swain and Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis; case dismissed due to settlement after motion to dismiss fraud and negligent misrepresentation counts was granted.
Avenue CLO Fund, Ltd. et al. v. Bank of America, N.A., et al.*
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Eleventh Circuit
Counsel for Bank of America in breach of contract and fraud case related to credit facility of Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel; settled favorably after summary judgment was granted.
Sacred Heart Health System Inc. et al. v. Humana Military Healthcare Services Inc.*
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
Eleventh Circuit
Counsel for Humana in breach of contract case related to insurance payments from insurer to hospital networks; settled favorably after class action certification was defeated on appeal at the Eleventh Circuit.
*Prior Firm Experience
Securities Litigation and Investigations
In re: Groupon Inc Securities Litigation*
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Counsel for underwriters of Groupon IPO; case against underwriters dismissed.
Monroe County Employees' Retirement System v. YPF Sociedad Anonima et al.*
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Counsel for underwriters of YPF bond issuance; case against underwriters dismissed.
Lucien Bebchuk v. Electronic Arts Inc.*
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Counsel for Electronic Arts in shareholder litigation; case dismissed.
SEC and FINRA investigations*
Counsel for major investment bank in multiple SEC and FINRA investigations into its high-frequency trading and dark pool trading platforms; all investigations resolved favorably for client.
Internal Securities-Related Investigation *
Counsel for Fortune 500 retailer in internal investigation of potential securities-law issues arising from CFO conduct; investigation resolved favorably for client.
*Prior Firm Experience
Pro Bono Litigation
Asylum Proceeding For Individual from Nigeria
Obtained asylum for a Christian university professor from Nigeria whose entire family was brutally murdered by the terrorist group Boko Haram.
Asylum Proceeding for Individual from Cameroon
Obtained asylum for an Anglophone activist from Cameroon who was beaten and tortured and faced indefinite detention by the ruling Francophone government.