The United States District Court for the Southern District of California in conjunction with the San Diego Intellectual Property Association held a mock Markman competition on October 30, 2019.  Twenty-four attorneys from the greater San Diego area competed in teams of two, arguing claim construction for a patent infringement scenario.  

The attorney teams, all with approximately 5 years or less experience, prepared claim construction and reply briefs on behalf of the patent holder or the alleged infringer.  Briefs were submitted to the Court and exchanged with the opposing party. On October 30, each team presented their claim construction arguments to a federal judge of the Southern District bench in the courtrooms of the James Carter and Judith Keep Federal Courthouse.  

The event was the proposed by District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo and embraced by the SDIPLA.  “We wanted to give young attorneys an opportunity to gain experience presenting oral arguments,” she said, “and we are planning to make this an annual event.”

Participants echoed the value of the experience under actual conditions in front of the judges.

The event was followed by a reception at the courthouse and presentation of awards for the top teams and individuals.

The top three teams were:

  • Third place: Ruchika Verma from Perkins Coie LLP and Hyung Myung from Qualcomm, Inc.
  • Second place: Michele Bongiovanni from Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd LLP and Michael J. Hopkins from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
  • First place:  Hollie Jessica Kucera from Trestle Law, APC and Kevin Davis from Bakos & Kritzer
 First Place Team: Hollie Jessica Kucera from Trestle Law, APC and Kevin Davis from Bakos & Kritzer with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

First Place Team: Hollie Jessica Kucera from Trestle Law, APC and Kevin Davis from Bakos & Kritzer with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

Second Place Team: Michael Hopkins from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP and Michelle Bongiovanni from Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd LLP (not present for award) with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

Second Place Team: Michael Hopkins from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP and Michelle Bongiovanni from Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd LLP (not present for award) with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California.

Third Place Team: Ruchika Verma from Perkins Coie LLP and Hyung Myung from Qualcomm, Inc. with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

Third Place Team:  Ruchika Verma from Perkins Coie LLP and Hyung Myung from Qualcomm, Inc. with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

The top three individual competitors were:

  • Third place: Peter Maggiore from DLA Piper
  • Second place: Michael J. Hopkins from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
  • First place:  Hollie Jessica Kucera from Trestle Law, APC
First place winner Hollie Jessica Kucera from Trestle Law, APC with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

First place winner Hollie Jessica Kucera from Trestle Law, APC with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

Second place winner Michael Hopkins from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

Second place winner Michael Hopkins from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

Third place winner Peter Maggiore from DLA Piper with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California

Third place winner Peter Maggiore from DLA Piper with The Honorable Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court for the Southern District of California