Jessica L. Gutierrez

Jessica is a trial attorney with broad intellectual property and technology experience. She counsels clients in navigating every stage of the litigation process, from pre-suit evaluation through appeal. Jessica has litigated patent, copyright, and trademark disputes. She has successfully represented clients in federal district court, before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and at the Court of Federal Claims. Jessica employs her engineering background to handle an array of complex technological fields. Her experience spans numerous industries, including medical devices, mobile device technology, computer software, energy, consumer product marketing, and more.

Prior to her legal career, Jessica was an Airport Design Engineer, designing improvement projects for airports throughout the southwestern United States. She leverages her engineering background in representing clients in an array of complex technological fields.

Jessica has served as a coach for the University of St. Thomas School of Law’s National Patent Drafting Competition Team since 2019.

Education

• Mitchell Hamline School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude (2014); Law Review, Managing Editor (2013-2014), Associate Editor (2012-2013); Constance L. Bakken Research Fellow (2013-2014)
• Arizona State University, B.S. in Civil Engineering (2009); Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society

Representative Matters

Willis Electric Co., Ltd., v. Polygroup Limited et al, 15-cv-3443, U.S.D.C., D. Minnesota: Trial counsel on behalf of Willis Electric in achieving a $42.4 million jury verdict in a patent litigation involving artificial Christmas trees. Our client was the inventor of an innovative technology that simplified assembly of prelit artificial Christmas trees. After an eight-day jury trial against Willis Electric’s largest competitor, we achieved a unanimous verdict in favor of Willis Electric finding the patent willfully infringed and not invalid.

Tholen v. Assist America: Trial counsel for Dr. Richard Tholen, a top Twin Cities plastic surgeon who endured an amputated leg after Assist America refused to evacuate him for proper medical care, in Tholen v. Assist America, wherein a federal jury in Minnesota awarded Dr. Tholen a $27.8 million verdict, including $10 million in punitive damages.

Trial counsel for 4DD Holdings, LLC—a Virginia-based and veteran-owned developer of complex data federation software—in an ongoing case in the Court of Federal Claims against the United States Government for alleged violation of a software copyright license agreement. This case represents one of the largest software copyright infringement actions currently pending against the Government. 4DD asserts that the Government infringed 4DD’s copyright by copying its proprietary software program, TETRA® Healthcare Federator, on servers and other computing devices associated with tens of thousands of unauthorized processor cores in express breach of its license. Successfully obtained sanctions award of almost $1.2 million in fees against the Government for destroying evidence. In April of 2022, the Court partially granted 4DD’s summary judgment motion, holding that 4DD has a valid copyright in its software and that the end-user license agreement prohibited the defendant from installing certain unauthorized copies or “cores” of its software. The Court also denied the Government’s summary judgment motion in its entirety. In November of 2022, 4DD’s claims were heard at trial before the Court of Federal Claims. Post-trial briefing is ongoing.

• Listed in Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under Guide (2024)
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch (2024-2025 editions)
• Named a "Woman Worth Watching in STEM," Profiles in Diversity Journal (2024)
• Named an "Attorney of the Year," Minnesota Lawyer (2024)
• Named to "Top Lawyers List," Minnesota Monthly (2024)
• Named a "Minnesota Rising Star," Super Lawyers (2018-2024)
• Named an “Up and Coming Attorney,” Minnesota Lawyer (2021)
• Named a “North Star Lawyer” by the Minnesota State Bar Association for providing at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services (2016-2021)
• Received Equal Justice Award from Minnesota Women Lawyers (2013)

Professional

• MNTech, Board of Directors
• Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association (MIPLA), Section Chair of Patent Litigation
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• The Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna IP Inn of Court

Speeches

• Minnesota’s Largest Patent Jury Verdict: The Inside Story
  Co-Presenter, Minnesota CLE 2024 Midwest IP Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota (September 27, 2024)
• IP Odyssey: Navigating the Latest Developments in Intellectual Property Law
  Panelist, FBA Minnesota Chapter Intellectual Property Committee CLE, Minneapolis, Minnesota (April 24, 2024)
• Litigation Lessons: Pitfalls for Drafting and Administering IP License Agreements
  Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association, Nashville, Tennessee (November 10, 2023)
• Verdict Alert! 8-Figure Edition
  Panelist, Minnesota Association for Justice, Webinar (February 2, 2022)
• Maximizing Value When Acquiring or Divesting Patents for Assertion
  Co-Presenter, Minnesota IP Law Association (MIPLA) Virtual Stampede (May 19, 2021)
• Printing Infringement: The IP Implications of 3D Printing
  Minnesota CLE presentation (2016, 2017)

Media Mentions

• “2024 Attorneys of the Year: Willis Electric v. Polygroup,” Minnesota Lawyer (February 7, 2025)
• "How I Made Partner: 'Speak Up, Even When It Scares You,' Jessica Gutierrez of Robins Kaplan," Law.com (June 12, 2024)
• "Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs," Law.com (January 26, 2024)

Publications: 

• The Privacies of Life: Automatic License Plate Recognition is Unconstitutional Under the Mosaic Theory of Fourth Amendment Privacy Law,” 38 Hamline L. Rev. 127 (Spring 2015)
• “Sharing Copyrights: The Copyright Implications of User Content in Social Media,” 35 Hamline J. Pub. L. & Pol’y 104 (Spring 2014)
• Duetsblog intellectual property legal blog, contributing author, www.duestblog.com (2014-2019)