LAIPLA Officers & Board of Directors 2021-2022
Our Board of Directors manages the affairs and directs the conduct of the business of the Association, subject to the By-Laws and the Articles of incorporation. Meet our team!
Ashe Puri, President
Ashe Puri is a partner at Maynard Cooper & Gale. Ashe is a patent litigator whose practice focuses primarily on litigating technology and medical device patents. In addition to being a registered patent attorney, Ashe also regularly counsels clients on licensing transactions and IP portfolio management. Prior to joining Maynard Cooper & Gale, Ashe practiced in New York City and Palo Alto.
Ashe holds a number of leadership positions in the Los Angeles community. In addition to being a two-term board member of the LAIPLA, Ashe is a past president of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California and sits on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County and the Public Interest Foundation of the South Asian Bar Association. Ashe currently serves as the Board Liaison to the LAIPLA’s Washington in the West Committee and the LAIPLA In-House Outreach Committee and previously chaired the Young Lawyers Committee.
Favorite LAIPLA Event: Washington in the West which Ashe has chaired and served as the Board liaison from 2015-present. The event is a great way to get to speak with members of the Patent Office.
Favorite LAIPLA Memory: Directors Dr. Christal Sheppard and John Cabeca’s presentations at the 2016 and 2017 Washington in the West. Both provided a lot of insight into developments at the Patent Office.
David Randall, Vice President
David A. Randall is a shareholder with Hackler Daghighian Martino & Novak. Based in Los Angeles, he routinely represents clients in complex IP litigation matters, including patent, trademark and trade secret litigation, throughout the United States, as well as in multijurisdictional matters. David’s practice also includes post-grant proceedings with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He has advised clients on over twenty inter partes review and ten patent interference proceedings. As a registered patent attorney, David is authorized to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and routinely counsels clients in the development and management of worldwide intellectual property portfolios. He has prosecuted hundreds of patents not only in the United States, but throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Patents he has prosecuted have been successfully licensed or asserted multiple times.
David’s experience covers a broad range of technologies, including technologies in the 3D printing, aerospace, automotive, biofuels, chemical, consumer products, electronics, fashion, Internet, laser, medical device, material science, optics, and software and data storage industries.
David graduated cum laude with his Juris Doctor from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and he graduated with honors from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering. Before receiving his J.D., he worked as an engineer for both Motorola and Hughes Missile Systems Co.
David has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America as one of the top intellectual property litigators in America. He is also active in the IP community; he is currently on the Board of the LAIPLA and co-chaired the 2014 and 2018 LAIPLA Spring Seminar Planning Committees, he has been an active member of the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s U.S. Post-Grant Patent Office Practice Committee since 2013, and he is a member of the Planning Committee for the USC IP Institute.
Erica Van Loon, Treasurer
Erica J. Van Loon is a Partner at Nixon Peabody in Los Angeles, California. She is an experienced IP trial lawyer and has a winning track record litigating copyright, trademark, patent, rights of publicity, trade secrets, invasion of privacy, defamation, business interference, and other media and entertainment claims. Erica was named the 2019 Intellectual Property Attorney of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal. She has successfully represented a wide range of clients in IP litigation matters including Bally Gaming, VIZIO, British Broadcasting Corporation, Target Corporation, Walmart, Conan O’Brien, Morgan Creek Productions, Lionsgate Films, Topson Downs of California, Red Bull, ASCAP, Abbott.
Xinlin Morrow, Secretary
Xinlin Morrow is the principal at the Morrow Firm in Century City. Xinlin is a strategic business and IP lawyer with a decade of experience litigating and advising clients on complex business disputes involving patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and contracts. Before founding the Morrow Firm, Xinlin practiced law at national litigation powerhouses Irell & Manella and Hueston Hennigan with a focus on business and IP litigation.
Xinlin received her B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College in 2007, and her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2010.
Xinlin has chaired LAIPLA’s Judges’ Night and Law School Roadshow committees.
Favorite LAIPLA event: Spring seminar 2018 at the beautiful Ojai Valley Inn.
Favorite LAIPLA memory: Judges’ Night 2020, where a wonderful panel of federal judges discussed wide-ranging topics including artificial intelligence and diversity in IP law.
Theodore W. Chandler, Past President
Ted Chandler is a partner at Baker Botts L.L.P. with 20 years of experience in IP litigation, including patent, copyright and trade secret litigation. Ted handles cases involving software, electronics and medical devices. Ted has tried cases in federal court and the International Trade Commission (ITC) and appealed cases to the Federal Circuit and Ninth Circuit. He is also registered to practice before the Patent Office where he handles challenges to the validity of patents in reexaminations and Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings in parallel to litigation.
Ted received his B.S.E. in Computer Science from Princeton University in 1997, and his J.D. from the Harvard Law School in 2000.
Ted has served as LAIPLA’s Board Liaison for the Judges’ Night committee, which he chaired in 2014; the LAIPLA Goes to Court lunch; and the Ambassador committee.
Favorite LAIPLA event: Judges’ Night, because it brings the profession together for an evening of education and collegiality.
Favorite LAIPLA memory: Spring Seminar every year, because it is always at such a beautiful location.
Helen Omapas, Director since 2018
Helen Omapas is Director, Senior Counsel – IP at Harman International Industries, Incorporated. She manages the global trademark and design patent portfolios as well as brand enforcement.
Helen received her BA from UC Irvine and her law degree from New York Law School.
Helen is a co-chair of the Women in IP committee.
Favorite LAIPLA Event: Spring Seminar
Chris Jackson, Director since 2017
Chris Jackson is senior intellectual property counsel at Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Previously, Chris worked for an international law firm, where he gained experience across a number of intellectual property matters.
Chris earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Utah. After working briefly as an engineer, Chris earned his J.D. and Certificate in Intellectual Property Law from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.
Chris is the LAIPLA’s Board Liaison for the Diversity Fellowship and In-house Outreach Committees.
Favorite LAIPLA Event: Diversity Fellowship award.
Favorite LAIPLA Memory: The holiday party where the organization added an IP twist to improv at Groundlings.
Jacob Zodieru, Director since 2019
Jacob Zodieru is an attorney at Arent Fox LLP who specializes in patent prosecution and client counseling in the software, mechanical and electrical arts. Prior to practicing law, Jacob was a software engineer for National Security Technologies (NSTec) in Las Vegas, a subcontractor for the US Department of Energy.
Jacob previously served as a co-chair for LAIPLA’s Young Lawyers Committee, where he helped plan opportunities and events for young lawyers to network and improve their knowledge and careers. Jacob also previously served on the Board of Directors for Southwestern Law School’s Nickel Club, a young lawyers alumni organization where he performed similar duties. Jacob further participated in LAIPLA’s Spring Seminar Committee to plan a young lawyers event for Spring Seminar in 2018.
Jacob received his law degree from Southwestern Law School in 2013, and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering at University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2009. While at Southwestern Law School, Jacob received a CALI “Excellence for the Future”
Award in patent law.
Favorite LAIPLA Event: Spring Seminar, which brings together wonderful speakers, legal education, networking opportunities, and a sense of excitement in the legal community. It is also a great way to spend a vacation at an amazing venue with great food!
Favorite LAIPLA Memories: LAIPLA’s Holiday Party, which was truly a magical experience, and being brought on stage at Spring Seminar to participate in a comedy act in front of numerous attorneys and judges.
Natasha E. Daughtrey, Director since 2020
Natasha Daughtrey is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Goodwin Procter LLP where she focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation and counseling related to patents, trade secrets, and trademarks. Ms. Daughtrey has experience representing companies in all stages of litigation from pre-suit investigations through trial and appeals, and also advises clients on IP-related due diligence. Ms. Daughtrey is the co-editor in chief of Goodwin’s Big Molecule Watch blog, dedicated to providing resources and observations of the world of biologics, biosimilars, and the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA). Ms. Daughtrey also has an active pro bono practice representing clients in immigration related matters and clemency petitions. Ms. Daughtrey received her B.S. in Biology from Arizona State University, and her J.D. from University of San Diego School of Law where she graduated cum laude and order of the coif.
Favorite LAIPLA Event: as a relatively recent transplant to Los Angeles, I haven’t attended all the great LAIPLA events. But my favorite one so far is Judge’s Night.
Favorite LAIPLA Memory: Tasting great wine with even better company at the Women Winemakers event organized by the Women in IP committee.
Hans L. Mayer, Director since 2020
Hans Mayer is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Knobbe Martens. Mr. Mayer represents clients in district courts throughout the country, as well as the TTAB and PTAB. His cases have covered a wide array of technologies and products, including transcatheter heart valve replacement and repair devices, energy drinks, signal boosters, genetic sequencing devices, recreational watercraft, and Emmy Award-winning documentaries. He also advises clients with respect to worldwide brand protection and has directed enforcement matters across the globe.
Mr. Mayer received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University and his J.D. from Loyola Law School where he was a member of the St. Thomas More Honor Society as well as an Editor on the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review.
Favorite LAIPLA Event: Washington in the West which Hans co-chaired in 2020 and served as a moderator in 2019. The event is a great way to connect IP practitioners from around the country.
James Abe, Director since 2021
James Abe is a partner in Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property Group and a member of the Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences Patent Litigation Team and Japan Business Team. James counsels a wide range of companies on all aspects of intellectual property law, with a focus on advising on patent, trade secret, trademark, copyright, and privacy and data security disputes and procuring patent and trademark rights.
James is fluent in Japanese and counsels many Japanese companies on their U.S. legal needs, including intellectual property and technology matters, commercial and business disputes, and cross-border transactions. He also regularly represents Japanese companies in court and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
James earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of San Diego School of Law, where he served as a member of the San Diego Law Review and received the CALI award in Patent Law. He earned his B.S. in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine. Before law school, James worked at Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corp. for seven years, where he worked on various patient monitoring systems.
Favorite LAIPLA event: WIW because it’s one of the few local events where we get to hear from prominent guest speakers from the USPTO and it was one of the first LAIPLA events I attended.
Favorite LAIPLA memory: 2019 Spring Seminar. The location was great and I enjoyed playing poker games with everyone.
Sarah Cork, Director since 2021
Dr. Sarah M. Cork is a member of the Litigation Department and the Life Sciences Group in Proskauer’s Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on patent litigation in the life sciences sector, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical, medical device, Hatch-Waxman, and BPCIA matters, and she has represented both patentees and patent challengers in district courts and at the Federal Circuit. Leveraging her extensive scientific training, Sarah understands her clients’ technology at a deep level, and she is skilled at translating complex technical concepts for a lay audience.
Sarah earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review. Before law school, she received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Emory University, where her dissertation research focused on characterizing novel therapeutics for brain tumors. She earned B.S. degrees in Biological Anthropology/Anatomy and Biology from Duke University.
Favorite LAIPLA Event: The 2020 Fall Patent Program (co-chair).
Favorite LAIPLA Memory: Being called up on stage to participate in a magic trick during the 2019 holiday party at the Magic Castle.
Amy Breyer, Director since 2021
Amy Breyer, a 2021 Pasadena Top Lawyer, is an intellectual property attorney with a passion for trademarks and copyrights. She also has extensive experience drafting and negotiating a variety of commercial contracts, from initial master services and non-disclosure agreements, to ongoing vendor, supplier and employee contracts to dissolution agreements. Amy is equally comfortable proceeding before the TTAB, in mediation, arbitration or the courtroom. She has two decades of experience in all stages of trial and appellate litigation – both state and federal, plaintiff and defense – handling a wide range of contract, tort, statutory and constitutional claims.
Before graduating from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, Amy interned with the Cook County State’s Attorney Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the Hon. Ruben Castillo, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois. She also founded a student chapter of the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
When she’s not working, Amy volunteers with several animal-related charities and serves as pro bono counsel for the Pasadena International Film Festival.
Gary Olsen, Director since 2021
Gary Olsen has worked on litigation matters related to intellectual property, corporate investigations, lost profits, and valuation matters for more than twenty years. He has provided expert witness testimony on damages matters including intellectual property, breach of contract and forensic accounting cases in various venues [including Federal Court], arbitration, international arbitration and mediation. He has testified and been retained as a damages expert in the healthcare, retail, professional services, consumer products, and construction industries.