Anne M. Cappella is a partner in Weil's Silicon Valley office, where she focuses on patent counseling and litigation involving complex technologies.
Ms. Cappella has a uniquely diverse intellectual property counseling practice, which includes advising clients on pre-litigation patent strategies, technical aspects of patent licensing arrangements, patent acquisitions through auctions and patent aggregators, and intellectual property due diligence in the context of M&A transactions.
Ms. Cappella also has extensive experience representing clients in complex multi-patent and multi-district litigations as well as trade secret actions. She advises on matters in federal courts and arbitration proceedings, and has particularly deep experience with matters before the U.S. International Trade Commission. She has a strong focus on high-stakes matters and regularly handles patent litigations where over $1 billion is at stake. Representative clients include Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Amkor, Broadcom and Matsushita, among others.
Ms. Cappella’s strong technical background—she holds a B.S. in electrical engineering with minors in computer science and mathematics and has prior work experience as an engineer and consultant for IBM—allows her to advise on areas of technology as diverse as cellular communications, memories, computer graphics, semiconductor processing and packaging, wireless and broadband communications, and integrated circuit design. She often handles the most technical aspects of patent litigations, including performing technical analysis to ensure solid claim construction, infringement, and validity arguments; overseeing technical experts and interacting with company engineers; and managing reexamination and post-grant strategy and proceedings.
Ms. Cappella is actively involved in a number of initiatives aimed at bettering the careers of women lawyers, and she was recognized for her efforts by The Recorder which included her in its 2012 list of the top 40 Women Leaders in Law. She is the Silicon Valley Office leader of Women@Weil, a firm affinity group that focuses on supporting women lawyers through mentoring, networking, recruiting, retention, advancement, pro bono initiatives, business development and community outreach. Anne is a formal mentor to several senior women associates, a frequent participant in Weil’s Mentors Across Borders program, and a regular participant in women law student and women engineer mentoring programs.
Bar Admissions and Memberships
- Member, California State Bar.
- Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- Admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.