Ellisen Turner is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Based in the Los Angeles office, his broad IP practice includes patent and trade secret litigation and intellectual property transactions. Ellisen is an IP strategist who combines business acumen with deep understanding of IP law to support his clients’ business goals and maximize the value of their technology.
Ellisen represents and counsels clients in complex commercial and intellectual property disputes in federal courts, as well as in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and domestic and international arbitrations. With a background in computer engineering, computer science and biomedical engineering, he is known for his sophisticated understanding of the high-tech sector. He concentrates his practice on media and entertainment technology, software, telecom, semiconductor, biotechnology and life sciences matters.
Ellisen also handles patent and trade secret litigations and contested patent office proceedings, particularly inter partes reviews (IPRs), through all phases, from pre-litigation to trial and appeal.
Ellisen helps clients develop strategies to successfully monetize their technologies, maximizing the value of both tangible and intellectual assets. He counsels businesses on technology development and commercialization and represents them in bankruptcy matters and transactions. These matters — which can involve a single patent or as many as tens of thousands of assets — include intellectual property transactions and license negotiations, as well as intellectual property due diligence in connection with mergers, acquisitions and asset purchases.
Clients rely on Ellisen both for his track record of success and for the enormous creativity he brings to each matter. Through his holistic approach, he takes the time to understand his clients’ business plans, short-term objectives, and long-term definitions of success. Armed with this knowledge, he crafts successful, often groundbreaking, legal strategies that meet clients’ critical business goals and pave the way to success in future endeavors.
Ellisen is deeply involved in the Los Angeles community and in national legal organizations and has been repeatedly appointed to the Judicial Elections Evaluations Committee for the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has served as the chair and a board member of the Intellectual Property Section of the National Bar Association. Ellisen also founded the National Bar Association’s annual Diversity in Tech Awards, which recognize leaders for fostering diversity and inclusion in the STEM and intellectual property fields. He also serves on the Intellectual Property Owners Association Litigation Committee and its Education Subcommittee.
Frequently invited as a speaker on patent law, Ellisen has presented on patent litigation and patent damages at the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and other intellectual property conferences. He has been an associate columnist for the National Law Journal and has co-authored several papers and presentations regarding patent law and practice topics, including forum selection in patent infringement litigation, claim construction hearing practice and pre-litigation investigations.
Ellisen’s strong knowledge of the technology sector is informed by his early professional experience in private industry. Before attending law school, he worked as as a software engineer at AlliedSignal Aerospace (now Honeywell International Inc.), Hewlett-Packard and IBM’s Silicon Valley Laboratory and as a manufacturing execution system and database design consultant.
In his spare time, Ellisen enjoys boxing, writing, sketching and bicycling.