Teresa M. Summers is an associate in the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. Ms. Summers assists clients in patent litigation, counseling, and licensing, as well as FDA-related litigation and counseling. Her patent practice focuses on biomedical sciences, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, satellite telecommunications, consumer electronics, and computer hardware and software. Ms. Summers also has extensive experience in International Trade Commission Section 337 litigation, having litigated nearly a dozen actions at the ITC, including a victory for Sharp Corporation in multiple ITC actions with Samsung.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Summers served as a law clerk to the Honorable Richard Linn of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She remains very active in Federal Circuit activities, including assisting the judges in recent Joint Judicial Conferences in both Japan and China on U.S. IP rights. In 2013, she assisted in the creation and development of the Tokyo IP American Inn of Court, the first Inn of Court based in Japan and the first American Inn of Court based outside of the U.S. For her role in the creation of the Tokyo IP American Inn of Court, Ms. Summers received a Distinguished Service Medal by the Linn Inn Alliance.
Ms. Summers received her B.S. in biology/biomedical engineering from the University of California, San Diego in 1992, and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude, in 2003. During law school, she was active in the Georgetown Law Journal and received the Cleon Robbin Patent Award, ABA/BNA Award for Excellence in Intellectual Property Law, and the Cali Award. Ms. Summers has published numerous articles: she authored “The Scope of Utility in the Twenty-First Century: New Guidance for Gene-Related Patents” and co-authored “Database Legislation: Changing Technologies Require Revised Laws” and “Medicare Act Increases Risk of Declaratory Judgment Actions Against Innovators.”