O’Melveny Worldwide

Bill Trac is a litigator specializing in high-stakes patent and trade secret cases, with trial experience in major competitor disputes.  Bill’s practice spans all aspects of IP litigation, including pre-litigation counseling, motion practice, discovery, trials, and appeals. He represents clients across a broad spectrum of technologies, including intelligent assistants, augmented reality, speech recognition, mobile devices and wearables, video streaming, geolocation and mapping, semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.  

Bill combines his passion for advocacy with deep technical knowledge.  Before obtaining his J.D. from Harvard, Bill studied Engineering Physics at Berkeley and worked on innovative power generation and emission control technologies for the US Department of Energy. He excels at communicating complex technological concepts in relatable prose.  Bill has argued before leading patent courts in Texas and California and has presented and cross-examined witnesses at trial. He has also litigated several death penalty matters, obtaining a stay of a scheduled execution in Nebraska, and defending Governor Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on executions in California.  

  • Defending leading internet company in multiple matters including at trial against claims of patent infringement; at the Federal Circuit, overturning US$85 million jury verdict and obtaining directed judgment of non-infringement; and obtaining favorable resolutions of matters litigated in the Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of California, Southern District of California, and the International Trade Commission;
  • Defending leading electronics company multiple matters including high-stakes smartphone litigation involving three trials and related appeals; and patent litigation including successful  transfer of venue from the Eastern District of Texas to the Northern District of California and dismissal following successful inter partes review proceedings;
  • Defending customer service platform provider against competitor’s allegations of trade secret misappropriation and software copyright infringement through trial, and asserting patent infringement counterclaims;
  • Obtaining a preliminary injunction and favorable resolution on behalf of major pharmaceutical company based on competitor’s misappropriation of pharmaceutical trade secrets and unlawful employee solicitation;
  • Defending augmented reality game company, including invalidating patents under § 101 and indefiniteness, affirmed on appeal, and obtaining favorable resolution of patent claims following institution of inter partes review;
  • Prosecuting leading semiconductor company’s claims  asserting claims of trade secret misappropriation and employee solicitation of Ethernet switch technology;
  • Defending cybersecurity company against patent infringement claims relating to network security software;
  • Numerous additional companies in pre-litigation disputes and patent infringement actions relating to a variety of technologies including semiconductors, set-top boxes, coaxial cable standards, medical devices, data transmission, and geolocation.

Admissions

Bar Admissions
  • California
Court Admissions
  • US District Court, Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California
  • US District Court, Eastern District of Texas
  • US Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D. 
  • University of California at Berkeley, B.S., Engineering Physics: with high honors

Professional Activities

Externships

  • The Honorable Helen S. Gillmor, US District Court of Hawaii (2009)

Certifications

  • Certified Information Privacy Professional - United States (CIPP/US), IAPP

Corporate & Government Experience

  • Engineer, United States Department of Energy (2006-2008)