Brian Ledahl is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, specializing in intellectual property and litigation with an emphasis on high-technology patent litigation and entertainment litigation. Prior to joining Russ August & Kabat, Mr. Ledahl was a lawyer at Irell & Manella LLP from 1996-2013, where he was a member of the Intellectual Property and Litigation workgroups.
Mr. Ledahl has extensive experience litigating complex claims in patent infringement, copyright infringement, trade secrets, and entertainment matters. He has appeared in numerous Federal trial courts around the United States, state courts in California, and before the U.S. International Trade Commission. Mr. Ledahl has tried cases before juries in multiple federal and state courts. Mr. Ledahl has also successfully represented clients in multiple appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and California state appellate courts. Over the course of his career, Mr. Ledahl has helped his clients recover more than $1.5 billion in judgments and settlements. Mr. Ledahl also counsels clients on a variety of business and strategic issues involving intellectual property and related issues.
Mr. Ledahl has been honored as a Southern California Super Lawyer from 2014-2025 by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine, and in 2021, he was recognized as a Southern California Top 100 Super Lawyer. Mr. Ledahl has been peer-rated as AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubell.
Before beginning his legal practice, Mr. Ledahl earned his J.D. in 1996 from Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. During law school, Mr. Ledahl served as a judicial extern to the Hon. Sonia Sotomayor. Mr. Ledahl earned his Bachelors Degree in 1993 from Columbia University where he was a member of the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Champion fencing teams and earned the Eisenhower Scholar Athlete Award. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Ledahl is a member of the board of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.
Recent Matters
Patent and Technology Matters
- Realtime Data v. Riverbed Technology – representing Realtime Data in a patent infringement case regarding data compression technology and obtaining a damages verdict from the jury.
- HBAC v. Google – representing HBAC in a patent infringement case regarding targeted advertising technology and obtaining reversal of an unfavorable summary judgment ruling on appeal to the Federal Circuit.
- In the Matter of Certain Dynamic Random Access Memory and NAND Flash Memory Devices – representing patent holder Intellectual Ventures before the U.S. International Trade Commission in a patent infringement matter against manufacturers of computer memory.
- Microprocessor Enhancement Corp. v. Texas Instruments – representing Texas Instruments in a patent infringement dispute regarding microprocessor architecture, obtaining summary judgment for Texas Instruments, and handling successful defense of appeal from that judgment.
- Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems v. Space Exploration Technology – representing Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX) in a trade secret dispute relating to rocket propulsion technology and in a separate antitrust claim against Northrop Grumman.
Entertainment and Business Matters
- HLC Properties v. UMG Recordings – representing Universal Music in multiple disputes (including a jury trial) with heirs of recording artist Bing Crosby over music royalties and distribution rights.
- Price Automotive v. Mass Management – representing classic automobile collector in fraud claim against seller of a vehicle.
- UMG Recordings v. Myspace, v. Grouper Networks, and v. Veoh Networks – representing Universal Music in copyright infringement actions addressing issues of first impression under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
- TI Beverage Group v. Home Box Office – representing HBO in a trademark dispute relating to a beverage product connected with the original series True Blood.
Paul A. Kroeger is a litigation partner at Russ August & Kabat, where he is a member of the firm’s litigation and intellectual property litigation groups. Mr. Kroeger’s practice focuses on complex business and intellectual property litigation at both the trial court and appellate court levels.
Mr. Kroeger represents, and has represented, a diverse group of clients including: Fortune 500 companies, aggregate mining companies, exercise equipment manufacturers, film and television producers, professional actors, musical artists and labels, investment bankers, and financial advisors. He has successfully represented clients in numerous forums, including California Superior Courts and Federal District Courts, the California Court of Appeal, and arbitrations, with a specialty in FINRA arbitrations.
Mr. Kroeger’s litigation experience has involved a wide variety of legal issues, including intellectual property matters, contract disputes, securities law issues, eminent domain matters and real property concerns, depending upon the client’s needs. Before joining Russ August & Kabat, Mr. Kroeger was an associate at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP and Raines Feldman LLP.
Affiliations
Paul is admitted as a member of the State Bar of California, the Supreme Court of California, the U.S. District Court, for the Central, Eastern and Northern Districts of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Paul is also a member of the American Bar Association.
Recognition
- Mr. Kroeger was recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer from 2017- 2025 by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine.
- Senior Editor, Southern California Law Review, University of Southern California.
- Law Clerk, Vice Chancellor, John W. Noble, Delaware Court of Chancery, 2003-2004.
Recent Matters
- Represented a major supplier of exercise equipment in a patent and trademark dispute
- Represented a Fortune 500 Company in an environmental clean-up law suit against a tenant
- Represented a major recording artist in a royalty dispute with a record company
- Defended a television producer in a right of publicity action
- Represented several major mining companies in disputes with municipalities and others
- Represented a major restaurant chain in a securities arbitration
- Represented a major investment banking firm in a dispute with a client
- Represented multiple financial advisors in FINRA arbitrations against nationwide broker dealer firms
- Represented several land developers against municipalities including successfully setting aside the City of West Hollywood’s denial of a building permit in the published decision Hoffman Street, LLC v. City of West Hollywood, 179 Cal.App.4th 754, 102 Cal.Rptr.3d 12 (2009)
Marc Fenster is co-chair of the Litigation Department and chair of the Patent Litigation department at RAK, which he founded in 2003.
Mr. Fenster is a first chair trial lawyer specializing in high-technology patent litigation. Prior to joining Russ August & Kabat, Mr. Fenster was a lawyer at Irell & Manella LLP from 1995 to 2003, where he was a member of the Intellectual Property and Litigation work groups.
Mr. Fenster has handled complex commercial cases involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, securities, licensing, class-actions and contracts. Some of Mr. Fenster’s recent matters include:
- In SPEX Technologies, Inc. v. Western Digital Corp. (CDCA 2016), Mr. Fenster, Ben Wang and Reza Mirzaie led the RAK team that won a $315 Million jury verdict finding infringement and no invalidity against Western Digital on patents related to encrypted hard disk drives. The Judgment was $551M with interest. Western Digital was represented by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher at trial.
- In MR Technologie v. Western Digital (CDCA 2022), Mr. Fenster, Reza Mirzaie and Dale Chang led the RAK team that won a $262 Million jury verdict finding infringement and no invalidity against Western Digital on patents related to magnetic recording media in hard disk drives. Western Digital was represented by Latham & Watkins at trial.
- In Almondnet v. Amazon, Inc. (WDTX 2024), Mr. Fenster and Reza Mirzaie led the RAK team that won a $122 Million jury verdict of infringement, and no invalidity against Amazon on patents related to targeted offsite advertising. Amazon was represented by Fenwick at trial.
- In Corephotonics v. Apple (NDCA 2024), Mr. Fenster led the RAK team in a 6 year, multi-suit campaign against Apple (represented by Cooley) relating to Corephotonics’ foundational mobile camera and image processing patents. The matter resolved successfully in 2024 with a substantial settlement for Corephotonics.
- In Ecofactor, Inc. v. Google, (WDTX 2022), Mr. Fenster and Reza Mirzaie led the RAK team that won a $20 Million jury verdict of infringement, and no invalidity against Google related to smart thermostat and energy saving HVAC controllers. Google was represented by Keker Van Nest at trial. The verdict was affirmed in a precedential opinion in 2024, representing the first patent verdict against Google to be affirmed by the Federal Circuit.
- In Solas OLED v. Samsung, (EDTX 2021), Mr. Fenster led the RAK team that secured a $62.7 Million jury verdict of willful infringement against Samsung Display, Samsung Electronics Corporation and Samsung Electronics America on patents related to Active Matrix OLED and touchscreen technology in Samsung’s mobile phones.
- In Mirror Worlds v. Facebook, (Fed Cir 2020), RAK won a reversal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, vacating the district court’s erroneous summary judgment ruling. Mr. Fenster argued for Mirror Worlds.
- In SPEX v. Apricorn, (CDCA 2020), Mr. Fenster led the RAK team that won a jury verdict of infringement against Apricorn for infringement of patents related to data encryption.
- In Core Wireless v. Apple, 5-15-cv-05008 (NDCA 2016), Mr. Fenster led the RAK team that secured a jury verdict of infringement and no invalidity on both patents against Apple (represented by Wilmer Hale) for infringement of two standards essential patents involving cellular technology. This appears to be the first time Apple has lost a patent case in NDCA.
- In Core Wireless v. LG, TXED-2-14-cv-00911 (EDTX 2016), Mr. Fenster led the RAK team that secured a jury verdict of willful infringement and no invalidity on both patents against LG for infringement of two standards essential patents involving cellular technology. This was the first willfulness verdict in the country involving standards essential patents.
- In Realtime Data v. Riverbed, TXED-6-15-cv-00463 (EDTX 2017), Mr. Fenster led the RAK team that obtained a jury verdict of infringement in a trial against Riverbed for patent infringement related to data compression and data acceleration.
- In Semcon v. Micron, CAFC-15-1936 (Fed. Cir. 2017), and HBAC v. Google, CAFC-15-1447 (Fed. Cir. 2017), RAK won reversals from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, vacating the district court’s erroneous summary judgment and claim construction rulings, respectively. Mr. Fenster argued for Semcon.
- In TQP v. Newegg (EDTX 2013), Mr. Fenster led the trial team that secured a jury verdict of infringement and no invalidity in a case regarding encryption technology.
- In CWC v. Hyundai (EDTX 2011), Mr. Fenster led the trial team that secured a jury verdict of infringement and no invalidity in a patent infringement case relating to marketing web site technology. The verdict was affirmed on appeal by the Federal Circuit, which Mr. Fenster argued.
- In Proxyconn v. Microsoft, Mr. Fenster helped his client achieve a favorable settlement with Microsoft following the PTAB’s confirmation of the validity of a claim in Inter Partes Review and subsequent affirmance at the Federal Circuit. Settlement was reached in April 2017.
- In Neurovision v. Medtronic (2017), Mr. Fenster and Ben Wang achieved a favorable settlement with Medtronic in a patent case asserting infringement of Neurovision’s patent related to endotracheal tubes.
- In 2006, Mr. Fenster obtained a $4 million jury verdict and successfully defended all counterclaims after a 5 week jury trial in a trade secret/fraud case involving after-market video game accessories.
- In 2005, Mr. Fenster obtained a jury verdict of non-infringement for a defendant in a patent trial in Central District of California involving construction equipment.
- In 2004, Mr. Fenster won a trial before the Delaware Chancery Court for advancement of legal fees for a former officer of Homestore.com. He then argued and won the appeal before the Delaware Supreme Court in 2005, resulting in the leading decision regarding advancement, Homestore v. Tafeen, 888 A.2d 204 (Del. 2005).
Mr. Fenster has been named a Southern California Super Lawyer since 2010 and was recognized as a Top 100 Super Lawyer for four years. He was named to The Best Lawyers in America (2022 – 2025 Editions) in patent litigation. Mr. Fenster was recognized among the Daily Journal’s 2025 Top Intellectual Property Lawyers in California. He was also recognized twice on the Daily Journal‘s 2024 Top Verdicts list.
Mr. Fenster also advises clients regarding various intellectual property and licensing issues in a nonlitigation context, particularly start-up high-tech clients seeking to protect and exploit their intellectual property assets.
Mr. Fenster’s undergraduate and graduate coursework focused on mass transfer, biochemistry, microbiology, human physiology, biomechanics, mechanical engineering and computer programming. His Master’s thesis involved a computer model of the micro-circulation in skeletal muscle, including passive and active vessel properties, hematocrit and blood rheology.
While at the UCLA School of Law, Marc avidly participated in competitive Moot Court and represented UCLA at the state Moot Court tournament.
Christian Conkle is an associate at Russ August & Kabat, where he is a member of the firm’s intellectual property and litigation & trial groups.
Mr. Conkle graduated from Loyola Law School, where he was a member of the Loyola Law Review and recipient of the inaugural Best Senior Editor award. He worked as an extern to the Honorable R. Gary Klausner, District Judge for the Central District of California, and to the Honorable Arthur Alarcón, Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Conkle also received the degrees Bachelor of Arts in Music from Grinnell College and Master of Arts in Musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Jacob R. Buczko is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, where he specializes in intellectual property and litigation. Mr. Buczko’s practice focuses on patent litigation and he has represented clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, chemical and electronics industries.
Prior to joining Russ August & Kabat, he was an associate at Kaye Scholer LLP and Kirkland & Ellis, where he practiced intellectual property and real estate litigation. Mr Buczko is a graduate of Columbia Law School where he served as Articles Editor of the Columbia Science & Technology Law Review. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Cell Biology/Molecular Genetics from the University of Maryland in College Park.
Adam Hoffman is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, where he practices in the intellectual property and litigation departments. Mr. Hoffman has represented clients in patent litigation and trade secret matters resulting in tens of millions of dollars in awards and settlements against a wide range of high-tech companies, including Apple, ASUS, LG, Google, HP, Dell, Sony, Samsung and LG. Mr. Hoffman has particular expertise in the ever-changing field of patent damages. He has successfully tried numerous cases, including recent trial victories in the Central District of California, the Eastern District of Texas, and the Western District of Texas. Mr. Hoffman also represents defendants and plaintiffs in copyright infringement matters. Prior to joining Russ August & Kabat, Mr. Hoffman was an associate at Irell & Manella LLP, where he was a member of the litigation and IP litigation work groups. Mr. Hoffman graduated magna cum laude from Duke University School of Law. Following graduation, Mr. Hoffman served as a law clerk in the Central District of California. Mr. Hoffman has been recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer from 2013-2025 by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine.
Recent Matters
- AlmondNet v. Amazon (W.D. Tex.) – $122 million jury verdict of patent infringement. Targeted advertising patents.
- EcoFactor v. Google (W.D. Tex) – $20 million jury verdict of patent infringement. The verdict was affirmed on appeal in a precedential ruling by the Federal Circuit. See EcoFactor, Inc. v. Google LLC, No. 2023-1101, 2024 WL 2807318 (Fed. Cir. June 3, 2024). Smart home patents.
- Solas OLED v. Samsung (E.D. Tex.) – $63 million jury verdict of patent infringement and willful infringement, subsequently enhanced to $78 million. OLED display patents.
- Pavo v. Kingston (C.D. Cal.) – $7.5 million jury verdict of patent infringement and willful infringement, subsequently enhanced to $11.2 million. The verdict was affirmed on appeal in a precedential ruling by the Federal Circuit. See Pavo Sols. LLC v. Kingston Tech. Co., Inc., 35 F.4th 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2022). Memory device patent.
