Natalie A. Bennett

Natalie has litigated more than a dozen high-stakes IP trials through final judgment, including the first verdict obtained under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. She examines fact and expert witnesses before juries and delivers opening and closing arguments. As lead counsel, Natalie takes an active role in the preparation of briefing and has handled oral arguments before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as high-stakes issues in district courts, including motions for judgment as a matter of law and preliminary injunction proceedings.

Previously, Natalie served as a judicial clerk for Judge Jimmie V. Reyna of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and for Judge John D. Love of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Natalie relies on her clerkship experience, paying particular attention to issues that may be pertinent to an appeal, including error preservation strategies.

Natalie was selected for Bloomberg Law’s They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 list for 2023. Natalie was one of four honorees nationwide in the IP category. She has received similar recognition by the National Law Journal and the American Bar Association (ABA) as a top lawyer under 40 who is recognized for achieving notable successes for clients, assuming leadership roles, and handling extensive pro bono work.

Outside of her IP work, Natalie maintains an active pro bono practice, serving as counsel for veterans through the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program. Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, she was a partner in the IP practice of another global law firm, where she obtained a precedential decision at the Federal Circuit establishing that veterans must have a full understanding of the consequences of withdrawing a claim for disability benefits for the withdrawal to be effective.

Natalie is an active member of local and national bar organizations. In Washington, DC, she serves as president for the Giles S. Rich Inn of Court and has led committees for the Federal Circuit Bar Association. In Texas, Natalie is a longtime member of the Eastern District of Texas Bar Association, where she is actively involved in planning the Eastern District of Texas Bench and Bar Conference and serves as an officer to the Association of Former Law Clerks for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

• Served as co-lead counsel for HID Global against a competitor in the District of Delaware, with the jury finding that HID’s competitor and its defendants are liable for willful trade secret misappropriation and the competitor is liable for willful patent infringement, awarding $45 million in damages in accordance with HID’s request during closing arguments. The case settled during post-trial briefing, with the court entering a consent injunction.
• Serving as lead counsel in declaratory judgment action defending HID Global and related entities from patent infringement allegations in the District of Connecticut with companion action in the Western District of Texas. Following motion practice that maintained the court’s subject matter jurisdiction in the District of Connecticut, both actions were stayed pending inter partes review of the asserted patents.
• Serving as co-lead counsel defending Microsoft against claims for patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and breach of contract in the Western District of Washington. Following multiple favorable discovery rulings, the case was stayed pending inter partes review of the asserted patent.
• Served as appellate counsel to a multinational electronics company at the Federal Circuit following a defense victory on the issue of indefiniteness in the District of New Jersey. On appeal, Natalie is defending the district court’s legal determination that all claims asserted by a non-practicing entity are invalid as indefinite.
• Achieved a complete defense verdict for a Fortune 500 technology company in the Eastern District of Texas. The jury rejected the infringement claims for a patent alleged to be standard essential and licensed throughout the networking industry for more than $100 million. The jury found the asserted claims not infringed and invalid. The invalidity finding followed two reexaminations and full review by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board during an inter partes review.
• Achieved a trial victory for Dalmatia Import Group, the market leader in specialty fig jam products, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The jury awarded Dalmatia damages for trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, counterfeiting, breach of contract and conversion. Natalie led the trade secret misappropriation efforts, examining the technical experts who testified on issues related to product development and the chemical properties of fig jams.
• Obtained a trial victory for a defendant accused of trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract in the Northern District of California; this jury trial was a bet-the-company situation for a manufacturer of semiconductor chips defending allegations brought by a former development partner.
• Obtained a complete defense verdict in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, with the jury finding no infringement of a patent relating to on-the-fly garbage collection in an information storage and retrieval system.
• Obtained a complete defense verdict for a manufacturer of wireless handheld devices in the Middle District of Florida, where the jury found all three patents invalid and not infringed, and rejected the plaintiff’s damages demand.
• Obtained a judgment of noninfringement in the Eastern District of Texas following a claim construction win on a case-dispositive claim term.
• Successfully represented multiple defendants accused of patent infringement in the Eastern District of Texas, with clients settling favorably following completion of invalidity contentions.
• Obtained a complete affirmance at the Federal Circuit for the International Trade Commission’s finding that there was a lack of domestic industry.
• Obtained a permanent injunction for pro bono clients on allegations of copyright infringement in the Northern District of Illinois.
• Orchestrated a successful pro bono effort in the District of Columbia for allegations of pregnancy discrimination on behalf of a former detective in the United States Park Police; as part of the public settlement in this case, the United States Park Police (a division of the Department of the Interior) agreed to rescind a policy of mandatory pregnancy disclosure and paid the pro bono client $300,000, the maximum amount of pain and suffering recovery under Title VII.
• Obtained a remand at the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for a pro bono client seeking disability benefits for traumatic brain injuries.