US law firm Perkins Coie has hired two leading litigators from Finnegan to join its IP and patent litigation practices as partners in its Palo Alto office.

Patent litigator Arpita Bhattacharyya spent over 17 years at Finnegan where she co-led the firm’s AI working group. Robert McCauley spent 25 years at Finnegan and jointly headed up the firm’s trade secret litigation.

Commenting on the appointments, Chris Hanewicz, co-chair of Perkins Coie’s IP practice, said they were excited about welcoming the lawyers to its San Francisco Bay Area IP practice. 

The pair are “intensely focused on delivering excellent client service, and that spirit drives every decision our IP team makes at Perkins Coie”, he said, adding: “We want to deliver the best outcomes for our clients and Arpita and Rob will be a big part of that mission going forward.”

Bhattacharyya advises clients on patent litigation and prosecution strategies, as well as petitioners and patent owners in all phases of inter partes review and post-grant proceedings before the US Patent and Trademark Office.

She has managed patent litigation cases before district courts, the International Trade Commission and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She counsels clients across emerging technologies, such as AI, augmented reality and virtual reality and digital health, as well as medtech and computer software and hardware companies.

Bhattacharyya said the firm was well known across the Bay Area and beyond for “the prowess of its IP work and experience, and I’m looking forward to continuing to deliver top-tier service for our clients”.

McCauley is an experienced trial lawyer, and former deputy district attorney. He has first chaired more than 30 jury trials and more than 50 bench trials. He has represented clients across a wide range of technologies, including semiconductor devices, optical amplifiers and networks, liquid cooling systems for data centres, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

McCauley said he was excited to join the firm, adding: “I’m looking forward to leveraging Perkins Coie’s robust, full-service platform in the Bay Area and beyond to further expand my practice.”

The US firm has been making a number of IP hires in the last year, in June it recruited Chris Marando as partner to its Washington DC office from Arnold & Porter. In April, IP partner Zach Hong moved to its New York location from medtech outfit Cleerly, where he was general counsel.

In 2024, the Seattle-headquartered firm opened up an office in London, its first in Europe; it concentrates on technology-oriented corporate law.

In recent days, the firm has become embroiled in US President Donald Trump’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) and is one of a number of law firms whose employment practices are being scrutinised. The firm has been targeted in an executive order for its work for Democrats, including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2016 election.