Kara Stoll | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Stoll in 2015 | |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit | |
| Assumed office July 8, 2015 | |
| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Randall Ray Rader |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kara Ann Farnandez November 1968 (age 56–57) Wilmington,Delaware, U.S. |
| Education | Michigan State University (BS) Georgetown University (JD) |
Kara Ann Farnandez Stoll (born November 1968) is aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Stoll received aBachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree, in 1991, fromMichigan State University. She worked as apatent examiner at theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office from 1991 to 1997. She received aJuris Doctor in 1997, fromGeorgetown University Law Center. From 1997 to 1998, she served as alaw clerk to JudgeAlvin Anthony Schall of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.[1]
From 1998 to 2015, she worked at the law firm ofFinnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner and was a partner at that firm. Her practice focused on patent litigation, primarily in the consumer electronics, computers, software and medical device industries. She represented clients at both the trial and appellate levels and served as lead counsel on a number of cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Among her prominent cases, she representedAkamai in en banc rehearing on issues ofdivided infringement inAkamai Technologies, Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc. (Fed. Cir.) and she successfully representedi4i in the largest ($290 million) patent verdict sustained on appeal ini4i Ltd. v. Microsoft (Fed. Cir.). In 2013, she was recognized as a Washington, D.C. "Super Lawyer" in Intellectual Property Litigation by theSuper Lawyers Magazine.[2]
She served as an adjunct professor atHoward University School of Law, from 2004 to 2008, and has served as a Distinguished Adjunct Professor atGeorge Mason University Law School, from 2008 to 2015. From 2013 to 2015, she served as co-chair of the Rules Committee of theFederal Circuit Bar Association and served as Vice Chair of that committee, from 2012 to 2013.[1]
On November 12, 2014, PresidentBarack Obama nominated Stoll to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, to the seat vacated by JudgeRandall Ray Rader, who retired on June 30, 2014.[3]
On December 16, 2014, her nomination was returned to the President due to thesine die adjournment of the Senate. On January 7, 2015, President Obama renominated her to the same position.[4] She received a hearing on her nomination on March 11, 2015.[5] On April 23, 2015, her nomination was reported out of committee by avoice vote.[6] On July 7, 2015, theSenate confirmed her by a 95–0 vote.[7] She received her judicial commission on July 8, 2015.[8] She took the oath of office on July 17, 2015.[9]
Her opinion inAdvanced Steel Recovery v. X-Body Equipment, 808 F.3d 1313 (2015) is highly cited for elaborating on the doctrine of equivalents, to include requiring the infringing patented product to "perform in substantially the same way as the claimed invention."[10]
She also wrote the Federal Circuit's opinion in the prominent caseSecure Web Conference v. Microsoft, No. 2015-1321, 2016 WL 626492, in which patent infringement claims against Microsoft's Skype were dismissed.[11]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2015–present | Incumbent |