Sapna Palla is a trial lawyer and partner in Allen & Overy Shearman’s Intellectual Property Litigation Department. She has spent over two decades representing clients in high-stakes patent, trademark, copyright, and complex commercial matters, including successfully litigating disputes in federal and state courts in a range of jurisdictions. She also has extensive experience with alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation. 

Sapna also counsels and represents a variety of U.S. and international clients regarding U.S. intellectual property rights by providing them with infringement, validity, enforceability, and clearance opinions and by advising them in licensing and antitrust matters. She also conducts intellectual property due diligence investigations in connection with acquisitions and licensing deals. Sapna also counsels clients about patent law in Asia, including China and India. 

Sapna’s patent litigation experience covers a broad array of technologies, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, drug delivery systems and medical devices, mechanical devices, batteries, software, and agrochemicals. Outside the patent area, she has represented clients in trademark, trade dress, and copyright litigation as well as counseling clients on trademark and copyright registration, strategy, and licensing.  Sapna has also led a number of complex commercial disputes involving complex 

contractual matters in the oil, renewable energy, construction, and food services industries. 

Sapna frequently writes and speaks on a range of topics, including developments in litigation, e-discovery, patent law, patent reform, intellectual property law in Asia, pharmaceuticals, biosimilars, biotechnology, and medical devices. Her programs have been presented by the Practicing Law Institute and WestLegal Ed, and she has been published and quoted in leading publications, including Practicing Law Institute, Forbes, ABA Litigation Journal, IP Law360, New York Law Journal, Corporate Counsel Connect, Pharmaceutical Patent Analyst, and Bloomberg/BNA. 

Sapna is an inaugural member of Judge Janet Bond Arterton’s Intellectual Property American Inns of Court. She was a summer clerk for the Honorable Judge Denis R.  Hurley of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. 

Sapna served as adjunct professor at Pace University School of Law, addressing antitrust and patent topics. She has lived and studied in both India and Tanzania. She is fluent in Hindi and Marathi and conversant in French. 

Professional Affiliations

President of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) (2020-2021), Co-Founder and Leader of the AABANY Leadership Development Institute (2019- Present), Director, AABANY Board of Directors (2017-2019), and Co-Chair of the Women’s Committee (2015-2017). 

Co-Chair of the Patent Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association (2020- 2021) 

Member, Patent Litigation Committee of the Intellectual Property Owner’s Organization 

Member, New York Intellectual Property Association’s Litigation and Legislative Action Committees 

Steering Committee, Women in BIO 

Member, ChIPs and Chief 

Member, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association 

Service on Selection Committees 

Served on AABANY Board, as President, Incoming President and Outgoing President and Board of Directors to evaluate and select potential judicial candidates for Federal and State level positions in conjunction with AABANY Judiciary Committee (2019-2022) 

Served on AABANY’s Nomination and Selection Committees for Board of Directors, Committee Chairs and Law Firm Diversity Award (2019-2022) 

Serve on Allen & Overy Shearman’s selection and recruiting committee for lateral  recruiting of attorneys (2021-present) 

Led committee to provide recommendations on behalf of AABANY to Secretary Jeh Johnson’s review of racial bias in the New York State court system and report on Equal Justice in the New York State Courts. 

Honors & Recognitions 

• Recognized as Leading Life Sciences Lawyer (2023) by LMG Life Sciences • Recognized as leading patent practitioner (2022) by IAM Patent 1000 

• Selected as the 2021 Diversity and Inclusion Champion award recipient by the New York City Bar Association. 

• Honored by the City and State of New York (NY) as “one of the most influential Asian Americans in New York politics and policy” in 2020. 

• Honored by the Pennsylvania Capital Representative Project for extraordinary efforts on behalf of Pennsylvania’s death row inmates in 2008.  

• Recipient of the 2001 Legal Aid Society award for Outstanding Pro Bono Representation. 

Education 

JD, Pace University School of Law, magna cum laude (1998) 

BBA, Pace University, summa cum laude (1995)

Court Admissions 

US Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit US District Court for the Southern District of New York

Experience Highlights: 

− Serving as lead trial counsel for Qatar Airways in The Wave Studio, LLC v. General Hotel Management Ltd. et. al., a copyright infringement matter in the Southern District of New York 

− Served as lead trial counsel representing major university in federal administrative proceedings relating to ownership rights to blockbuster anti-depression drug product. 

− Served as lead counsel representing Walmart Inc. and Wal-Mart.com USA in a copyright infringement matter in the Central District of California against Roxy Russell Design. 

− Served as lead trial counsel representing Swedish global biotechnology company Genovis AB in a patent dispute with a global biotechnology company relating to proprietary technology for the induction of antigen-specific immune tolerance in Western District of Wisconsin. Obtained favorable settlement on eve of trial. 

− Served as lead trial counsel and obtained favorable settlement for German multi national food company in a trade dress infringement and preliminary injunction action against General Mills involving its LÄRABAR packaging design in District of Minnesota. Obtained favorable settlement for client. 

− Served as lead counsel representing U.S. media company in a trademark infringement and preliminary injunction action in District court in Massachusetts.  Obtained favorable settlement for client. 

− Served as lead counsel representing internationally recognized maritime museum in copyright litigation matter involving well-known ship designs in the District of Rhode Island. 

− Represented Astronics in Lufthansa Technik AG v. Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems Corp., and obtained a successful claim construction and summary judgment of patent indefiniteness. 

− Represented American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in a Paragraph IV patent infringement suit covering, non-small cell lung cancer drug,  Tarceva® (erlotinib). After a two-week trial, the District Court upheld the validity of the compound and method of treatment patents. 

− Secured favorable jury verdict for a French multinational pharmaceutical company in Paragraph IV patent infringement suit covering antihypertensive combination drug, Tarka® (trandolapril and verapamil hydrochloride). After a two-week trial, the jury found the patent valid and awarded substantial damages. The District Court upheld the jury verdict. 

− Represented an American multinational biopharmaceutical company in connection with challenge in India to its patent covering drug used for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumour and advanced renal cell carcinoma. 

− Represented an American multinational biopharmaceutical company and its subsidiary in a Paragraph IV patent infringement suit covering the antihypertensive drugs Accupril® (quinapril) and Accuretic® (quinapril and hydrochlorothiazide (HCT)). 

− Represented a German pharmaceutical company in a Paragraph IV patent infringement suit covering the antihypertensive drug Altace® (ramipril). After a two week trial, the Court found the patent valid and enforceable. This victory was selected as a Noteworthy Case by the National Law Journal for its 2006 Defence Hot List. 

− Represented an American multinational pharmaceutical company and an Irish biotechnology company in successfully challenging the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s interpretation of the statute designed to compensate patent holders for loss of patent term due to delays in processing patent applications leading to the creation of new law. 

− Represented a Swiss multinational healthcare company in a patent infringement action relating to its synthetic drug for treating anaemia. The Federal Circuit affirmed in part, and reversed and remanded in part. 

− Represented an American multinational biopharmaceutical company in Paragraph IV patent infringement suits covering leading blood pressure medication Norvasc® (amlodipine besylate). After a seven-day bench trial, the Court found the patents valid and enforceable. 

− Represented an American biopharmaceutical company in infringement suit covering inhalable insulin. Obtained favorable settlement for client. 

− Represented an American multinational biopharmaceutical company in a Paragraph IV patent infringement suit covering a triazole antifungal drug used in the treatment and prevention of superficial and systemic fungal infections. Won summary judgment that the patent-in-suit was not invalid on the grounds of anticipation. The case settled before trial.