Brett M. Schuman

Brett Schuman is the co-chair of Goodwin’s Intellectual Property Litigation practice. He is the former chair of the firm’s San Francisco office, the former head of the Litigation department for Goodwin's California offices, and a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Brett is a partner in the firm’s IP Litigation group. His practice is focused on trying patent and other IP cases in federal and state courts around the country, and also in arbitration. Brett’s patent litigation practice comprises patent cases on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants across various industries. He serves as lead trial counsel in patent infringement litigation matters involving broadband communications technology, semiconductors, wearables, and medical devices. He also maintains an active appellate practice at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and is also actively involved with post-grant review proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Brett’s practice also comprises copyright and trade secret litigation, including trade secret litigation relating to employee mobility and trade secret litigation between competitors. For example, Brett was co-lead counsel for Otto Trucking, LLC in the Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies, et al., where Goodwin achieved a summary judgment victory for our client Otto Trucking. Brett also served as co-lead counsel during the related Google v. Anthony Levandowski et al. arbitration proceedings.

Brett also co-founded and co-chairs the firm’s Cannabis practice. According to the American Lawyer, Goodwin was the first Am Law Top 50 firm with an established cannabis practice. Brett advises operators and investors in, or looking to get in, the cannabis industry. On the operator side, his clients range from Fortune 50 companies to multi-state operators (MSOs) to single-state brands; on the investor side, his clients range from PE and VC funds to family offices and other financiers. He advises cannabis industry clients regarding the federal and state regulatory regimes relating to cannabis, IP issues, products liability, and other issues. He also represents cannabis industry clients in litigation, including leading brands such as Central Coast Agriculture, Inc. (dba Raw Garden), PAX Labs and Kiva Brands, Inc.

Litigation

• Rivian, as lead trial counsel, in defense of trade secret misappropriation case filed against Rivian by Tesla
• Keysight Technologies, as lead trial counsel, in defense of commercial and intellectual property litigation
• Microchip Technology, Inc., as lead trial counsel, in defense of patent infringement litigation and in related IPRs
• CommScope, as lead trial counsel, in defense of patent infringement litigation and in related IPRs
• Vantiva SA and Vantiva USA, as lead trial counsel, in defense of patent infringement and antitrust litigation
• The former shareholders of Nangate, Inc., as co-lead trial counsel, in a fraud and breach of contract case against Silvaco, Inc., arising from a failed M&A deal, resulting in a $40 million judgment for the former Nangate shareholders
• Otto Trucking, LLC, Anthony Levandowski’s company, as co-lead trial counsel, in defense of patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation and other state law claims. Achieved summary judgment victory for Otto Trucking before the case went to trial against other defendants
• Applied Materials, as lead trial counsel, in patent infringement and related inventorship litigation regarding semiconductor process patent claims asserted against company and its customers. He also participated in related IPR proceedings. Successfully resolved
• Innovium, Inc., as lead trial counsel, in case where Broadcom asserted employee mobility related claims, including trade secret misappropriation, against founders. Successfully resolved
• ARRIS, as lead trial counsel, in IPR proceedings directed to validity of several Sony Corporation patents asserted against ARRIS subsidiary in co-pending district court patent infringement litigation. Obtained final written decisions invalidating all challenged claims in two Sony patents
• Cisco Systems, as lead trial counsel, in defense of a patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation and fraud case in the District of Delaware. Following a two-week jury trial and post-trial motions on claims seeking in excess of $500 million in damages, the judgment awarded the plaintiff was just $33,000 in damages*
• Atmel Corporation, as lead trial counsel, in several cases asserting patent infringement pending in the Eastern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Central and Northern Districts of California*
• Northern District of California, District of Nevada, and at the PTAB, including on the case Unwired Planet LLC v. Google, Inc., which resulted in a precedent-setting Federal Circuit opinion regarding the scope of Covered Business Method (CBM) review
• ActiveVideo Networks, as a member of the team that obtained a $130 million judgment in favor of ActiveVideo against Verizon, and obtained affirmance of judgment on appeal, in a patent infringement case tried in the Eastern District of Virginia*
• An accused infringer, as lead appellate counsel, in an appeal to the Federal Circuit; obtained affirmation of a judgment of noninfringement in a patent case involving a method for selecting the color of artificial teeth*
• An international pharmaceutical company, as appellate counsel, in an appeal to the Federal Circuit; obtained affirmance of a judgment of patent infringement*

Cannabis

• Kiva Brands, as lead counsel, in several cases, including a trademark infringement case and a consumer class action
• Central Coast Agriculture (dba Raw Garden), as lead trial counsel, in several cases, including a trademark infringement case, a litigation with its former distributor, and a consumer class action
• PAX Labs, as lead counsel, in numerous consumer class actions and individual cases in federal and state courts around the country
• Cann, as lead outside counsel in various matters
• Nowadays, as lead outside counsel in various matters
• Intrexon, as lead IP licensing counsel, on license agreements relating to Intrexon’s non-clonal plant propagation technology
• Additionally, Brett provides strategic and regulatory advice to Fortune 100 companies, non-US companies, and others regarding US federal and state cannabis laws and regulations. Brett also supports deal teams doing cannabis industry deals

*Denotes experience prior to joining Goodwin.

Prior to joining Goodwin in 2014, Brett was a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in San Francisco, where he led that firm’s litigation practice in its San Francisco and Palo Alto offices and was deputy leader of its IP practice. Before beginning his private practice, Brett served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alan B. Handler of the Supreme Court of the state of New Jersey.

• Brett was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America Best Lawyers 2026 for his work in Intellectual Property Litigation
• Brett was ranked for his work in Cannabis Law: Western United States by Chambers USA 2023 and 2024
• Brett was named a Top Intellectual Property Lawyer for 2021-2023 by the Daily Journal 
• Brett was named a Leading Lawyer (Cannabis) and Recommended Lawyer (Trade Secrets) for 2021-2024 by the Legal 500. In 2023 and 2024, he was also named a Recommended Lawyer for Patent Litigation: Full Coverage. 
• Brett was selected as a 2020 Cannabis Law Trailblazer by The National Law Journal
• Brett has been recognized by IAM Patent 1000 – The World's Leading Patent Professionals as a leading patent litigator, touted as a lawyer who “immerses himself in the technology to provide incisive guidance in crucial disputes” in 2022 and 2023

• Contributor, “Interstate Cannabis Commerce May Be In Reach, With Caveats,” Law360, April 20, 2023
• Co-Author, “How Cannabis Cos. Can Keep Up With Privacy Compliance,” Law 360, March 2023
• Co-Author, “Civil RICO Lawsuits: Should the State-Legal Cannabis Industry Be Concerned?,” Cannabis Business Times, September 28, 2022
• Co-Author, "Lingering Questions After 9th Circ.’s Delta-8 TM Ruling," Law360, June 2022
• Co-Author, “Ninth Circuit Rules Delt-8 THC Is Legal,” Goodwin Client Alert, May 2022
• Co-Author, “Overcoming Months-Long Legislative Deadlock, New Jersey Governor Signs Bills Legalizing Cannabis,” Goodwin Client Alert, February 2021
• Co-Author,“South Dakota’s Legalization of Adult-Use Marijuana Hits Significant Roadblock,” Goodwin Client Alert, February 2021
• Co-Author, “Arizona Kicks Off Adult-Use Cannabis Sales in Record Time,” Goodwin Client Alert,  January 2021
• Co-Author, “The Green Wave: Cannabis Legalization Sweeps in 2020,” Goodwin Client Alert, November 2020
• Co-Author, “A Survey of State CBD & Hemp Regulation Since The 2018 Farm Bill,” Cannabis Industry Journal, October 2020
• Co-Author, “Supreme Court Should Consider the ‘Pattern of Nonenforcement’ When It Comes to Medical Cannabis,” Daily Journal, October 2020
• Co-Author, “Who’s Afraid of Biotech Institute LLC?,” Cannabis Industry Journal, August 2019
• Co-Author, “Cannabis Co.s. Adopting Cannabis Patent Playbook,” Law360, January 25, 2019
• Co-Author, “Handling the Valuation of Cannabis Companies for Private Equity and Venture Capital Clients,” The Recorder, July 25, 2018
• Co-Author, “Is a cannabis patent war looming?,” Silicon Valley Business Journal, January 4, 2018