Biography
Steve Steinberg is a Partner of Bartko Pavia LLP and Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Practice. Steve is a trial lawyer, specializing in intellectual property, privacy, and complex business litigation, including claims for trademark and copyright infringement, theft of trade secrets, privacy issues related to data sharing online and data breaches, claims between founders of technology startups, and other complex business disputes in both federal and state courts. He has represented clients in numerous trials, where he has won victories for both plaintiffs and defendants. Steve is also highly regarded for his service to the legal community in the Bay Area and beyond, as he currently serves as Secretary of the Northern California chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and previously served as Chair of an American Bar Association committee and President (youngest ever) of the Contra Costa County Bar Association.
In the field of IP litigation, Steve has litigated trademark and copyright cases for video game, e-commerce, consumer product, and specialty food companies, as well as a leading font designer. He has litigated patent cases concerning mobile phone accessories, web browsers, light emitting diodes (LEDs), networking technologies such as Power-over-Ethernet and WiFi, and power conversion technologies. Steve has also represented numerous technology companies in prosecuting and defending against claims for theft of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duties, interference, and related claims, as well as cases for breach of contract against suppliers and disputes arising out of mergers and acquisitions.
In the field of privacy litigation, Steve has defended multiple healthcare systems against class actions related to website technologies such as analytics, pixels, and cookies, and related to data breaches, including claims involving PHI under HIPAA, “medical information” under CMIA, wiretapping under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), as well as other statutory, common law and constitutional claims.
Steve has also handled numerous cases involving disputes between co-founders of startups and between founders and their former companies.
Before joining Bartko, Steve was Counsel at Vasquez, Benisek and Lindgren / Morgan Miller Blair and an associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where he handled a wide array of business disputes.
While in law school, Steve served as an extern for the Honorable Chief Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, and as an extern for the Honorable Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma of the Hong Kong High Court in Hong Kong.
Education
- University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings), J.D., magna cum laude
- Princeton University, A.B.
Admissions
- State Bar of California
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Cases
Trademark / Copyright Infringement and Related Claims
Laatz v. Zazzle, Inc., Northern District of California – Currently serving as co-lead counsel for plaintiff, who is a leading designer of custom fonts, in district court case involving claims for copyright infringement, breach of contract, fraud, and trademark infringement against a leading custom-printing business; case set for trial in July 2025.
Stardock v. Reiche, Ford, Northern District of California – Lead counsel for defendants and cross-complainants in district court case and related proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board involving allegations of copyright and trademark infringement, unfair competition, and related claims; reached favorable settlement near the conclusion of fact discovery.
Juul Labs, Inc. v. Chou, et al., Central District of California – Co-lead counsel for plaintiff in case alleging counterfeiting and trademark infringement; obtained early injunctive relief and asset freeze, and then favorable judgment following bench trial.
Cisco Systems, Inc., Cisco Technology, Inc., Ciena Corporation v. Wuhan Wolon Communication Technology Co., Ltd., et al., Northern District of California – Co-lead counsel for plaintiff in counterfeiting case; obtained consent judgment and permanent injunction including shutting down websites at early stage.
Cisco Systems, Inc., Cisco Technology, Inc. v. Shenzhen Usource Technology Co., et al., Northern District of California – Co-lead counsel for plaintiff in counterfeiting case; obtained default judgment and permanent injunction including shutting down websites at early stage.
Petranovic v. Casetagram Ltd. d/b/a Casetify, Central District of California – Lead counsel for defendant in case alleging copyright and trademark infringement, Lanham Act violations, and statutory and common law misappropriation of right of publicity; reached settlement after early discovery.
Comprehensive Industrial Disability Management, Inc. v. Chopra Consulting, LLC, Arvinder Chopra, et al., Northern District of California – Represented software developer and his company in defending against claims of breach of contract, copyright infringement, and interference; obtained favorable settlement following expert discovery.
Sahara Afghani Gourmet Foods, Inc. v. East & West Gourmet Afghan Foods, Trademark Trial and Appeals Board – Represented defendants in trademark cancellation proceedings.
Apollo Future Tech., Inc. v. Taqseem, Inc., Northern District of California – Lead counsel for declaratory judgment plaintiff manufacturer of e-cigarette liquids in case alleging non-infringement and seeking cancellation of trademark registration; obtained favorable settlement early in discovery.
Spiraledge, Inc. v. SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., Southern District of California – Lead counsel for plaintiff e-commerce company in infringement action regarding “Aquatica” trademark; obtained favorable settlement shortly before trial.
Trade Secret and Other Business Disputes
ASML US, Inc. v. XTAL, Inc., Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara – Represented the plaintiff, a leader in computational lithography, in a case involving theft of trade secrets, breaches of contract and fiduciary duty, and computer fraud by numerous former employees who joined a competing company; second-chaired a three-week jury trial that led to one of the largest trade secret verdicts in history. Click here for The Recorder article and click here for the Daily Journal article.
AKT Franchise, LLC, Xponential Fitness LLC, et al. v. Anna Kaiser, et al., Superior Court of California, County of Orange, and related cases in District of Delaware and Delaware Chancery Court – Lead counsel for defendant celebrity trainer in California-based part of dispute involving counterclaims for breach of contract and fiduciary duties, interference, and related claims concerning franchise business; obtained dismissal through early motion practice leading to favorable settlement of all cases.
Timefire, Inc. v. AQS Engineering, Inc., All Quality & Services, Inc., Superior Court of California, County of Alameda – Represented the plaintiff, a BitCoin circuit board design company, in breach of contract case against supplier; obtained favorable verdict and judgment after jury trial.
SMC Networks, Inc. v. Hitron Techs., Inc., Hitron Techs. Americas Inc., et al., Central District of California – Represented plaintiff in case alleging breach of contract, interference, breach of fiduciary duties, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair competition by former supplier and officers; obtained favorable settlement on eve of trial.
Accton Tech. Corp. v. Centillium Communications, Inc., Superior Court of California, County of Alameda – Represented plaintiff in case involving claims related to defective microchips.
SMC Networks, Inc. v. Netstar Tech. Corp., Central District of California – Represented plaintiff in case involving claims related to defective network switches.
Privacy and Healthcare Litigation
Barbour v. John Muir Health, Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa – Currently serving as co-lead counsel for healthcare entity defendant in class action case alleging wiretapping, invasion of privacy, and other privacy-related claims based on use of the Meta/Facebook Pixel on healthcare system’s website.
Doe v. Sutter Health, Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento – Currently serving as co-lead counsel for healthcare entity defendant in class action case alleging wiretapping, breach of contract, and numerous privacy-related claims based on use of various technologies such as cookies, pixels, and analytics on healthcare system’s website.
In re: MOVEit Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, multiple district and state courts – Co-lead counsel for healthcare entity defendant in class action case alleging numerous claims based on one of the largest data breaches in history.
Peterson v. Sutter Medical Foundation, Northern District of California – Co-lead counsel defending healthcare entity and members of medical staff leadership against allegations regarding civil rights, antitrust laws, and other claims by doctor who had hospital privileges; obtained partial dismissal and substantial award of attorneys’ fees for defendants through motions to dismiss and strike, and favorable judgment on remaining claims through summary judgment following discovery; currently on appeal.
Patent Infringement
Case-Mate, Inc. v. Casetagram Ltd. d/b/a Casetify, Northern District of Georgia – Lead counsel for defendants in case regarding mobile phone cases; obtained settlement early in the case.
Uncommon, LLC v. Casetagram Ltd. d/b/a Casetify, Northern District of Illinois – Lead counsel for defendants in case regarding mobile phone cases; defeated motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction and reached settlement early in the case.
Chrimar Holding Co., LLC v. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise USA Inc., Accton Tech. Corp., SMC Networks, Inc., Edgecore USA Corp., Costar Techs., Inc., Costar Video Sys., Belden, Inc., Garrettcom, Inc., Hirschmann, Inc., Eastern District of Texas – Represented numerous defendants in case regarding Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) technology; obtained favorable verdict after jury trial for one defendant and reached settlements on eve of trial for other defendants.
Trustees of Boston University v. Epistar Corp., Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd., Lite-On, Inc., District of Massachusetts – Represented leading LED manufacturers through jury trial and overturned adverse verdict through post-trial motions.
Nichia Corp. v. Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd., Eastern District of Texas – Represented leading LED package manufacturer through bench trial and appeal and obtained favorable verdict and judgment awarding no injunction or damages.
Synqor, Inc. v. Lineage Power Corp. & Cherokee International Corp. / Lineage Power Corp. v. Synqor, Inc., Eastern District of Texas – Represented leading power supply company (now subsidiary of GE) as defendant through trial and as plaintiff in dualing cases regarding DC-DC power converters.
Northpeak Wireless LLC v. SMC Networks, Inc., Northern District of California – Represented defendant in case regarding WiFi technology; obtained stipulated judgment of non-infringement after favorable claim construction order.
CSIRO v. 3Com Corp., D-Link Systems, Inc., Accton Tech. Corp., SMC Networks, Inc., Eastern District of Texas – Represented defendants in case regarding WiFi technology; obtained favorable settlements near end of trial.
Publications
- Litigation Against Healthcare Entities Based on Their Use of Website Cookies and Pixels, California Health Law News, Summer 2024
- Speaker, “Defending Healthcare Entities Against Class Actions Premised on the Entities’ Use of Website Cookies and Pixels,” California Society of Healthcare Associations, 2023 Annual Meeting
- Challenges of Privacy Compliance and Litigation
Update author, Chapter 1: “Challenges of Privacy Compliance and Litigation” (CEB Privacy Compliance and Litigation 2021, 2024) - Trademarks
Update author, Chapter 6: “Trademarks” (CEB California Business Litigation 2023) - Comments from the Chair
ABA Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) (Summer 2019) - Local Idea: National Impact
Contra Costa Lawyer, October 2018 - From the Chair . . .
ABA Dialogue Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer 2017) - ABA LRIS Standing Committee Launches National Data Survey of Programs
ABA Dialogue Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer 2017) - Speaker, “Lawyer referral services need confidentiality privileges,” ABA Journal, August 2016
- Interview, “Meet Your 2014 CCCBA Board President: Stephen Steinberg,” Contra Costa Lawyer, January 2014
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