Rachel M. Walsh

Rachel M. Walsh is a partner in Goodwin’s IP Litigation group and is a member of the firm’s Life Sciences Disputes group.

Rachel focuses her practice on practice on patent, trade secret, and other technology-related litigation. Her practice involves a variety of technologies, including semiconductors, medical devices, telecommunications, and biotechnology for clients from startups to publicly traded companies. Regardless of the technology or size of company, she maintains a sharp focus on her client’s ultimate business goals when advising clients. She also has significant experience with standard-essential patents. She has represented clients through trial in district courts and has experience in arbitrations and other proceedings. She has also successfully argued petitions at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and in appeals at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Rachel also advises companies in portfolio management, intellectual property strategy, and due diligence in transactions and IPOs where she brings a practical approach.

Rachel’s matter highlights include:

• Representing Rivian in defense of a trade-secret misappropriation case filed by Tesla in California State Court
• Representing an early-stage biotechnology company in trade-secret, patent ownership, and other claims  
• Defending Microchip Technology Inc. against patent infringement claims and in pursuing IPRs and appeals
• Representing a Silicon Valley-based healthcare technology company in a jury trial against a pharmacy benefits manager regarding various healthcare, tort, and contract claims
• Representing an advertising technology company in invalidating a patent in IPR.  The decision was upheld in IPR
• Representing CommScope in defense of patent infringement litigation relating to standard essential patents
• Otto Trucking, LLC, in defense of patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation and other state law claims. Achieved summary judgment victory for Otto Trucking
• A publicly listed cybersecurity company in defending claims of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation. Following our client’s successful challenge to the plaintiff’s trade secret disclosure and the Court’s issuance of a protective order barring discovery by the plaintiff on its trade secret claims.  Plaintiff dismissed its claims of trade secret misappropriation and also dismissed its patent infringement claims against our client
• A wearable device company, winning dismissal of claims for lack of patentable subject matter, as well as attorney’s fees, before claim construction in a multi-patent litigation
  
   

Before joining Goodwin in 2015, Rachel was an associate in the IP litigation group at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in San Francisco.

Rachel has contributed to the following publications and presentations:

• Speaker, PLI, “Advanced Trade Secrets – 2024: Artificial Intelligence and Real Problems:  How Can Lawyers Leverage the Power of AI and Help Clients Avoid Losing Their Trade Secrets,” October 2024. 
• Co-Author, "COVID-19 Litigation and Government Investigations in the U.S.: What We Are Seeing Now, And What the Future Holds," Goodwin Client Alert, April 2020
• Co-Author, “Protecting Data in the MedTech Industry,” MedTech Intelligence, August 2019
• Speaker, “Unlocking the Value of Data in MedTech: Protect Your IP, Protect Your Business: Trade Secrets Deep Dive (Part 2),” Goodwin Webinar, April 2019