Sectors
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Justin M. Sobaje

Special Counsel

Justin M. Sobaje

Special Counsel

Justin Sobaje is special counsel and an intellectual property lawyer at Foley & Lardner LLP, where he counsels clients regarding all aspects of intellectual property, including patent litigation, patent prosecution, trademarks, and trade secrets. He manages patent portfolios for companies that cover a wide range of electronic and mechanical technologies, including computer hardware and software, wireless communications, image sensors, and medical devices. Justin is a member of the firm’s Electronics and IP Litigation Practices.

He is a seasoned patent litigator with experience litigating in the most popular district court patent venues as well as before the International Trade Commission. He has developed tactics for the efficient resolution of cases and is particularly known for his skills in defending against patent trolls. He is able to provide a bridge between technical and legal concepts and has handled cases involving advanced technologies such as computer and storage system architectures, communication networks, encryption methods, payment systems, video transmission and recording devices, e-commerce websites, graphics processors, and semiconductor testing equipment.

With respect to patent prosecution, Justin interacts with clients to craft strategies for patent portfolios, including utility and design patent coverage, as well as patent coverage for foreign countries. He has years of experience in preparing patent applications and in communicating with the Patent Office to seek allowance. He has additional experience in the preparation of re-examination and inter partes review requests, and in the identification and presentation of prior art as a means of forestalling litigation or for use as a bargaining chip in settlement and licensing negotiations.

Prior to joining Foley, Justin worked at both NEC and Intel. At NEC, he worked with a team to design a compiler for a transport triggered processor. At Intel, he was a member of the operating systems group, where he developed and coded algorithms. He is the sole named inventor on two U.S. patents.

 

Presentations and Publications

  • “The Evolving Standard for Pleading Direct Patent Infringement,” IP Frontline, Sep. 2016
  • “Has the Machine-or-Transformation Test Returned to Prominence in Patent Cases?” Cyberspace Lawyer, Vol. 20, No. 2, Mar. 2015
  • “Is the ‘Commil’ Defense Underutilized in Patent Cases?” Law.com, Nov. 2014
  • “Permanent Injunctions in Patent Cases: Back in Style?” IP Litigator, Vol. 20, No. 5, Oct. 2014
  • “Are Computer-Implemented Inventions Patent Eligible?” Cyberspace Lawyer, Vol. 19, No. 3, Apr. 2014
  • “Network Processors and Methods Allowing for Prefetching Instructions Based On a Packet Type of a Packet,” U.S. Patent No. 8,462,789, Jun. 2013
  • “Network Processors and Pipeline Optimization Methods,” U.S. Patent No. 8,179,896, May 2012
  • “What Territory is Surrendered?” Biotechnology Law Report, Vol. 21, No. 6, Dec. 2002
  • “System Level Power Optimization for Wireless Multimedia Communication,” Kluwer Academic Publishers, Ch. 4, 2002
  • “Optimal Node Scheduling for Effective Energy Usage in Sensor Networks,” Proc. IEEE Workshop on Integrated Management of Power Aware Communications, Computing, and Networking, May 2002
August 5, 2026 Deals and Wins

Foley Represents Mirantis in Completed Acquisition by IREN

Foley & Lardner LLP represented Mirantis, a leading provider of cloud software and services, in their completed acquisition by IREN Limited (Nasdaq: IREN).
May 5, 2026 Deals and Wins

Foley Represents Mirantis in Sale to IREN for $625 Million in IREN Stock

Foley & Lardner LLP recently represented Mirantis, a provider of cloud infrastructure, Kubernetes-based orchestration, and enterprise support services, in the negotiation of a definitive agreement to be acquired by IREN Limited.
August 5, 2022 Deals and Wins

Foley Represents The League in Acquisition by Match Group

Foley & Lardner LLP represented Austin-based exclusive dating app The League in its acquisition by Match Group, a Dallas-based parent company of several popular dating apps, including Tinder and Hinge.
October 12, 2018 Blogs

Permanent Injunctions for Non-Practicing Entities in Patent Cases

Many patent practitioners assume that non-practicing entities cannot obtain permanent injunctions in patent cases.
A woman with light hair speaks at a podium outdoors, dressed in a dark outfit and patterned scarf, with a microphone in front of her—perhaps addressing fellow Chicago lawyers from a leading corporate law office.
October 11, 2016 Blogs

Hillary Clinton's IP Litigation Experience

Many people are surprised to learn that Hillary Clinton was an intellectual property attorney when she practiced law from 1977-1992 for the Rose Law Firm.
A file drawer with labeled folders, with the "PATENTS" folder in focus among others labeled "COMPANY" and "CUSTOMERS," illustrating the organization and litigation support often needed by law offices and Chicago lawyers.
August 25, 2016 Blogs

The Evolving Standard for Pleading Direct Patent Infringement

It has been a little more than half a year since the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure abrogated Rule 84 and put an end to the Form 18 bare-bones style patent complaint.