Baltic’s founder, Stefan Szpajda, has over 15 years of experience running complex litigations from case assessment through trial and appeal
Baltic can be engaged directly by clients or as co-counsel with other law firms.
Direct engagements. Baltic is available for direct engagements with clients facing intellectual property disputes on either the plaintiff or defense side. If the matter requires additional support, Stefan works with clients to assemble the right team from a trusted network of specialized law firms.
Co-counsel. Clients and law firms can engage Baltic to support existing matters. Stefan excels at developing case strategies, explaining litigation risks and benefits to executives and board members, brief writing, oral arguments, and driving complex fact and expert discovery efforts.
Patent Litigation and Licensing
Stefan has represented clients in all of the key patent jurisdictions including California, Texas, Delaware, Washington, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the International Trade Commission, and the Federal Circuit. Stefan has deep experience handling all aspects of patent cases. Stefan is especially useful as a translation layer between the technical teams on patent cases and the judges and juries who need to understand them.
Stefan also routinely advises clients on pre-litigation strategies and dispute resolution, and has negotiated patent licenses and settlements with some of the largest technology companies in the world.
Stefan is admitted to practice before the Federal Circuit, and has both led and supported appeals from inter partes reviews and district court cases.
Stefan is best suited to collaborate on complex cases that present challenging legal questions.
Trade Secrets Litigation
Trade secrets litigations can arise suddenly and become all-consuming. Clients need experienced, nimble counsel to tell their story and protect their businesses and reputations. Baltic provides critical support to clients facing these unwelcome emergencies.
Stefan has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of trade secrets disputes in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Stefan has successfully obtained, and opposed, temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions arising from alleged misappropriation of trade secrets.
Stefan has guest lectured on the topic of trade secrets litigation at the University of Washington School of Law.
Copyright and Trademark Litigation
Online service providers and marketplaces can’t slow down to ponder every copyright or trademark risk their businesses incur. But this can lead to exposure in litigation when things go wrong. Although not the right lawyer for routine copyright and trademark questions, Stefan can be a valuable addition for clients facing complex questions that require robust litigation support.
Stefan has significant experience representing online service providers under the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to defend against allegations of copyright infringement by users who allegedly post infringing materials on their platforms.
Stefan has obtained temporary restraining orders, as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions on behalf of brand owners and designers whose copyright and trade dress rights were being infringed by online retailers, and represented defendants in trademark cases involving allegations of infringement and counterfeiting.
Stefan has also written and presented on a range of quirky copyright and trademark questions, including whether graffiti artists can sue photographers who take pictures of their work. His articles caught CNN’s attention, where he was quoted after the Supreme Court decided the landmark Google v. Oracle decision.
International Clients
A graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Stefan has worked extensively with Canadian clients on U.S. litigations and licensing matters, and understands the unique challenges that these cross-border disputes can raise. Stefan has also overseen litigations in Germany, France, and India in close collaboration with counsel in those jurisdictions. Stefan especially enjoys guiding international clients through their first interactions with the U.S. litigation system.
Stefan is conversant in French and Polish.
Pro Bono
Stefan is a committed advocate who collaborates with law firms assisting clients with violations of their clients’ constitutional rights.
In 2017, Stefan represented a plaintiff in an excessive force case under the 8th Amendment in the Northern District of California, in which he and his team obtained a rare jury verdict awarding compensatory and punitive damages.
In 2021, after defeating a motion for summary judgment asserting qualified immunity, Stefan negotiated a substantial settlement paid by the state of Washington to civil detainees who had been exposed to unreasonable amounts of second-hand smoke in violation of their 14th Amendment rights.
Although far afield from his IP litigation practice, these results highlight Stefan’s commitment to winning hard cases.
Have questions? Contact Baltic.
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