Expert witness and technical consultant in 2017-18 to Michael Best & Friedrich LLP of Chicago and Austin on behalf of Dynacraft in patent infringement litigation relating to electric motor controls for children's ride-on vehicles in Fisher-Price, Inc. and Mattel, Inc. v. Dynacraft BSC,Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Provided expert declarations regarding invalidity of the asserted claims of three patents in petitions for inter partes review before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board instituted trials in response to Dynacraft’s petitions for all three patents. Case settled out of court with a favorable settlement for the client.

Expert witness and technical consultant in 2015-18 to Locke Lord LLP of New York City, Dallas and Houston. Client represents defendants, Broad Ocean Motor LLC, Broad Ocean Technologies LLC, Zhongshan Broad Ocean Motor Co. Ltd. and Motors & Armatures, Inc. in connection with patent litigation relating to HVAC motor technology with plaintiff, Nidec Motor Corp. of Japan in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Provided three expert declarations regarding invalidity of the asserted claims of patents in petitions for inter partes review before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board, including a supplemental declaration on remand. Defended IPR declarations in depositions. Litigation is ongoing.

Retained in 2017-18 by Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP of Washington, D.C. as an expert witness and technical consultant on behalf of respondents Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan, Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. in patent infringement litigation relating to encapsulated electric motor technology with complainant, Intellectual Ventures II LLC at the U.S. International Trade Commission. Intellectual Ventures subsequently dropped its allegations with respect to Toyota’s hybrid vehicle transaxle motors. 

Retained in 2017 as an expert witness and technical consultant by Michael Best & Friedrich LLP of Milwaukee on behalf of Kohler in patent infringement litigation relating to fluid delivery control systems for experiential showers in Intelligent Water Solutions, LLC v. Kohler Co. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. Case settled out of court.

Expert witness and technical consultant in 2013-15 to Foley & Lardner LLP of Milwaukee on behalf of Emerson Electric and Micro Motion in patent infringement litigation relating to coriolis flowmeter technology, Invensys Systems, Inc. v. Emerson Electric Co. and Micro Motion, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. Provided expert declarations regarding invalidity of the asserted claims of seven patents in petitions for inter partes review before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Also provided expert reports relating to non-infringement and to alleged damages for the U.S. District Court case. Defended IPR declarations and expert reports in a total of five depositions. Case settled out of court.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Michael Best & Friedrich LLP in 2014-15 on behalf of Agis Automatisering B.V. of the Netherlands in connection with patent litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Technology relates to motion sensors and algorithms for detecting behaviors, rumination and estrus of dairy cows via telemetry. Plaintiffs are VocalTag Ltd. and SCR Engineers Ltd. of Israel. Provided expert reports relating to invalidity, non-infringement and defended same in deposition. A judgment was entered in favor of defendant Agis Automatisering B.V., granting summary judgment of non-infringement and no willful infringement, dismissing without prejudice defendant’s counter claims for declaratory judgment of invalidity and dismissing the case.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court decision in 2016.

Retained in 2013 by Kenyon & Kenyon LLP of New York City on behalf of respondents, Lenovo (United States) Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. of Hong Kong in patent infringement litigation relating to optical disc drive servo technology, “Certain Optical Disc Drives, Components Thereof, and Products Containing the Same,” in the U.S. International Trade Commission. Complainant was Optical Devices, LLC. 

Expert witness and technical consultant to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP of McLean, Virginia on behalf of Pegasus Technologies in 2012 in patent infringement case relating to electronic pen and handwriting capture technology, Epos Technologies Ltd. and Dane-Elec v. Pegasus Technologies Ltd. and Luidia Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Provided expert reports regarding validity and infringement of the six patents-in-suit and defended same in deposition. 

Expert witness and technical consultant to Perkins Coie LLP of Denver and Phoenix in 2011 in TriQuint Semiconductor v. Avago Technologies in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona and 
in Avago Technologies v. Aigner and Fattinger in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Provided expert rebuttal reports regarding alleged trade secret misappropriation and testimony in depositions and also served as a 30(b)6 witness on behalf of TriQuint. Technology relates to bulk acoustic wave (BAW) device technology used in RF wireless communications and to MATLAB programming. Case settled out of court with a favorable settlement for the client and IP cross licenses.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP of San Francisco in 2011 and Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP of Redwood Shores, California in 2010 on behalf of defendants in patent infringement case relating to disk drive technology, Convolve, Inc. v. Dell, Inc., Western Digital Corp., Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, and Hitachi Ltd. in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. Provided an expert report on invalidity on behalf of Hitachi, Western Digital and Dell, and provided an expert report regarding non-infringement on behalf of Hitachi. Technology relates to servo control and end user interface technology for seek acoustic noise reduction in disk drives. Provided testimony in deposition and at the trial in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division in which plaintiff sought nearly $200 million in total damages. Hitachi, Dell and Western Digital obtained favorable jury verdicts by being assessed a total of less than three percent of that sought.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Brian Cave LLP of St. Louis in 2010 on behalf of Nordyne in patent infringement case, Nordyne Inc. v. RBC Manufacturing Corp. in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division, relating to motor control in HVAC applications. Provided an expert declaration regarding claim construction and was deposed on same. Case settled out of court with a favorable settlement for the client.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Faegre & Benson LLP of Minneapolis in 2010 on behalf of Pella in trade secret and breach of contract case, Shi R2 Solutions, Inc. v. Pella Corporation in State Court of Iowa, relating to manufacturing equipment technology. Provided an expert report. Case resolved out of court. 

Expert witness and technical consultant to Schopf & Weiss LLP of Chicago in 2008-9 on behalf of Goss in patent infringement case, Goss International Americas, Inc. v. Graphic Management Associates et al, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, relating to newspaper inserting machine technology. Provided expert report regarding validity and was deposed on same. Provided an expert declaration on claim construction in 2009 in related patent infringement case, Muller Martini Corp. and Muller Martini Mailroom Systems, Inc. v. Goss International Americas, Inc. and Goss International Corporation in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Cases subsequently settled out of court.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Fish & Richardson PC of Boston in 2007-8 on behalf of Markem in the patent infringement case Markem Corporation v. Zipher Ltd. and Videojet Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire, relating to tape drive and printing apparatus control systems. Retained in 2011 by Fish & Richardson in related patent infringement cases in same court, Markem-Imaje Corporation v. Zipher Ltd.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Michael Best & Friedrich LLP in 2006-2011 in patent infringement case, Bristol Company LP v. Bosch Rexroth et al in the U.S. District Court of Colorado, involving hydraulic control system equipment. Produced an expert report and provided testimony in deposition on non-infringement and invalidity. Also, produced an expert declaration regarding claim construction, attended the Markman hearing and assisted counsel in summary judgment action. Expert witness and technical consultant to Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll of Denver in 2006 in related legal malpractice / patent infringement case, Bristol Company LP v. Lee Osman and Dorsey & Whitney LLP, in Denver District Court, involving hydraulic control system equipment. Produced an expert report on non-infringement. Both cases subsequently settled out of court.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Cantor Colburn LLP of Bloomfield, Connecticut in 2005-6 on behalf of Faro Technologies in the patent infringement case, CimCore Corporation, et al v. Faro Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. District Court of Southern California, involving 3D coordinate metro-logy equipment. Authored expert reports on non-infringement and invalidity, providing expert testi- mony in deposition and at a jury trial. Case later settled with a favorable settlement for the client. 

Expert witness and technical consultant to Holme, Roberts & Owen LLP of Denver and to Brooks Kushman, P.C. of Southfield, Michigan from 2003-6 on behalf of StorageTek in patent infringement litigation in the U.S. District Court of Colorado, Storage Technology Corporation v. Quantum Corporation, involving tape drive optical servo technology. Authored expert reports and provided testimony in deposition on infringement and validity. Directed production of animations and videography for trial, addressing infringement. Case settled out of court during trial with a $25 million settlement for the client and a cross licensing agreement.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Fenwick & West LLP of Mountain View, California from 2003-4 on behalf of Via Technologies of Taiwan in trade secret and patent infringement litigation in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Western Division), MediaTek, Inc. v. Via Technologies, Inc. et al. Disputed technologies involved optical disc drive position sensing, servo control and data buffering. Produced four expert reports addressing trade secret matters, patent invalidity and non-infringement. Provided testimony in deposition. Case settled out of court with a satisfactory settlement for the client. 

Expert witness and technical consultant to Oliff & Berridge, PLC of Alexandria, Virginia from 2003-4 on behalf of Nikon of Japan in patent infringement litigation in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, ASML Netherlands B.V. and ASM Lithography, Inc. v. Nikon Corporation and Nikon Precision, Inc. Disputed technologies related to semiconductor processing microlithography equipment. Provided opinions in expert reports relating to claim construction of two ASML reaction frame patents. Cases settled out of court with a favorable settlement for the client and cross licensing agreements.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Welsh & Katz, Ltd. of Chicago from 1998-2001 on behalf of Papst Licensing, GmbH. of Germany in multi-district patent infringement litigation proceedings in the U.S. District Court, Eastern Division of Louisiana, involving IBM, Quantum Corporation, Maxtor Corporation, Western Digital, Seagate Technologies and Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. of Japan. Related litigation involved Minebea Co., Ltd., of Japan. Disputed technologies included hard disk drive spindle motor and mechanical design. Performed priority analysis and 
developed claim charts on the more than twenty patents at issue. The parties settled out of court with favorable settlements for the client.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP of Los Angeles in 2000 on behalf of Harmonic Design in patent infringement and trade secret case, Harmonic Design Inc. v. Hunter Douglas Inc., in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Western Division, relating to electronic circuitry, sensors, IR signal demodulation, microprocessors and motor control logic. Investigated Hunter Douglas' motorized window covering products for infringement. Wrote an expert report on infringement, providing post Markman interpretation of disputed claim terms. Case settled out of court with a satisfactory settlement and business arrangement for the client.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Holme, Roberts & Owen LLP of Denver in 1999-2000 on behalf of Exabyte in patent infringement case, Ecrix Corp. v. Exabyte Corp. Investigated Ecrix's tape drive microcode, electronics and mechanics for infringement of Exabyte patents relating to servo and timing control, buffer management, tape format and cartridge loading. Investigated infringement and provided technical feedback during depositions of Ecrix personnel. Provided a computer animation video of the operation of the Ecrix tape loading mechanism. Case settled out of court in a mutually beneficial business arrangement for the parties.

Expert witness and technical consultant to Wood, Herron and Evans, L.L.P. of Cincinnati in 1999 in patent infringement case, Ranpak Corp. v. Storopack, Inc., relating to machine and AC motor control. Provided an expert witness report and testimony under deposition relating to both non-infringement and invalidity of contested claims in Ranpak's U.S. patent. Testified in a jury trial in U.S. District Court, Western Division of Southern Ohio, as Storopack's expert witness. The jury found in favor of Storopack on all counts to which Dr. Sidman testified, resulting in an overall favorable decision. 

Expert witness and technical consultant to Kenyon and Kenyon LLP of N.Y.C. and Washington D.C. in 1995 on behalf of Conner Peripherals in patent infringement case, IBM Corporation v. Conner Peripherals Inc., in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, relating to disk drive servo systems. Directed scanning electron microscope experiments and conducted prior art patent search. Produced non-infringement expert reports and defended same in deposition, contributing to client's satisfactory settlement of the case. 

Expert witness and technical consultant to Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP of Wilmington, Delaware in 1997 on behalf of Data General in patent infringement case, Data General Corporation v. IBM Corporation, in U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. Researched prior art electronic enclosures for data processing systems and authored expert invalidity report about the obviousness of a patent claim being asserted by IBM against Data General's Clariion Division RAID products. IBM subsequently withdrew its objections on this patent.


CONSUMER PRODUCT CLASS ACTION LITIGATION

Expert witness and technical consultant to Court Appointed Co-Lead Counsel, Chitwood Harley Harnes LLP of New York, in class action case, In Re Microsoft Xbox 360 Scratched Disc Litigation, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington from 2008-9. Provided expert reports and testimony in deposition relating to optical disc drives and to gyroscopic effects. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in 2016 in an appeal stemming from this case, Microsoft Corporation v. Seth Baker, et al. 


FOREIGN LITIGATION

Appointed as an independent expert in breach of contract litigation before the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, London Mercantile Court, relating to DC brushless motor design for electrically assisted power steering (EPAS) systems. Retained from 2010-14 by Baker McKenzie LLP of London, representing the claimants in Globe Motors Inc., Globe Motors Portugal – Material Electrico Para A Industria Automovel LDA and Safran USA, Inc. v TRW Lucas Varity Electric Steering Limited and TRW Limited of England. Provided several expert reports to the Court and testified at trial in London in 2014. Globe Motors’ claim for breach of contract succeeded.

Technical consultant to Drew & Napier LLC of Singapore in 2005 in breach of contract litigation in Singapore relating to DVD drive technology. 


PATENT LICENSING

Retained by Rodime PLC of Scotland in 1996-97 to review disk drive digital servo system patents and patent applications for marketing / licensing potential and recommend which should be pursued.

Retained by Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky LLP of Washington, D.C. in 1997 for disk drive patent licensing negotiations on behalf of Hitachi, Ltd. of Japan. Presented opinions and responded to technical assertions of opposing side during negotiations, contributing to a satisfactory settlement.


OTHER LITIGATION

Retained by plaintiff’s attorney in 2011-2012 in breach of contract and breach of warranty case, Power Control Devices, Inc. v. Orchid Technologies Engineering and Consulting, Inc. in the U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts. Provided an expert report relating to brushless DC motor driver design.

Retained in 1999 by plaintiff's civil rights attorney, Faye Riva Cohen, Esq. of Philadelphia, as an expert witness in a case relating to the academic research of an engineering Ph.D. candidate in Robert Morein v. Drexel University et al. Performed technical review of Mr. Morein's academic research in state estimation to determine if it constituted viable academic work and to ascertain its potential practical value. Authored an expert report and testified in deposition and at trial by videoconference in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Judge found in favor of plaintiff on all counts. 

Retained by plaintiff's attorney in 1989 to investigate and analyze functionality and reliability of municipal traffic control system in case involving a juvenile pedestrian fatality. Made recommend-
ations resulting in reprogramming of traffic control systems throughout Colorado Springs.


U.S. PATENT PROSECUTION

Named inventor on 18 U.S. patents. Worked extensively with patent attorneys to write patent specifications, help draft claims and respond to office actions. Completed Prof. Kayton’s treatise, Patent Practice.

Retained by Rogitz & Associates of San Diego in 2001 to review prior art patents and assist it in responding to USPTO office actions. Wrote a declaration relating to battery technology and terminology.