Widely recognized as one of Silicon Valley’s leading intellectual property lawyers, Sasha Rao has an established record of success for some of the world’s top companies.
Chair of Maynard Nexsen’s nationwide Intellectual Property Practice, Sasha regularly leads intellectual property and commercial litigation for her clients, including cases involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition, and complex commercial disputes. Sasha also advises her clients, ranging from tech start-ups to the largest multinational companies, on a wide range of legal issues including, corporate, transactional, policy, regulatory, IP strategy, patent and trademark prosecution, and IP aspects of mergers and acquisitions.
Sasha has tried cases in district courts throughout the U.S. Her strong science background has enabled her to develop effective courtroom strategies for cases involving technologies ranging from pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biotechnology to computers, the Internet, Web 3.0, and software. In the technology realm, Sasha has defended some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent companies in cases brought by competitors and non-practicing entities. In life sciences, Sasha has extensive experience in Hatch-Waxman/ANDA litigation and has represented generic and branded pharmaceutical companies in numerous patent cases.
Sasha’s enthusiasm for cutting-edge technologies has led to her being recognized as one of the leading practitioners in the emerging fields of blockchain and crypto, artificial intelligence, and autonomy and robotics, including autonomous vehicles, uncrewed aerial vehicles (drones), advanced air mobility, and connected and artificially intelligent systems. Her legal concentration includes regulatory, policy, intellectual property, data rights, and legal strategy.
Sasha is registered to practice in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She also represents clients in Patent Office trials, including inter partes review (IPR) and other post-grant invalidity challenges available under the America Invents Act.
Sasha stands out as one of the top practitioners in her field. Chambers USA has recognized Sasha as a Leading Individual in Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation since 2020. In 2023, the Recorder recognized Sasha as one of the “Women Leaders in Tech Law” for the fifth time. She was also named by the Daily Journal in 2023 as one of California’s Top Intellectual Property Lawyers (having previously received this recognition five times). Sasha was also featured in Law.com as a Woman of Legal Tech in July 2023.