Biography
Sasha Rao is a partner at Nixon Peabody who regularly leads intellectual property and commercial litigation, including cases involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition, and complex commercial disputes. She advises clients, ranging from tech startups to the largest multinational companies, in various legal issues, including corporate, transactional, policy, regulatory, IP strategy, patent and trademark prosecution matters, and IP aspects of mergers and acquisitions.
Sasha is also one of the leading practitioners in the emerging fields of artificial intelligence, and autonomy and robotics, including autonomous vehicles, uncrewed aerial vehicles (drones), advanced air mobility, and connected and artificially intelligent systems.
Her strong background in science has enabled her to develop effective courtroom strategies for cases involving complex technologies, ranging from hardware to software. She has defended some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent companies in cases brought by competitors and non-practicing entities.
Prior to joining Nixon Peabody, Sasha served as the nationwide IP chair for a full-service law ?rm with 24 offices in the US. She received her juris doctor from the New York University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Randolph Macon Woman’s College. She is consistently recognized as a leading IP attorney by various publications throughout the nation. She has been ranked by Chambers in the Patent Litigation category since 2018 and has also been recognized by the Daily Journal as a “Top Intellectual Property Lawyer” in California from 2019.