Stephanie O. Sparks

Professional Activities & Speaking Engagements

Stephanie is an active member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and International Trademark Association (INTA). She was recently selected to INTA Leadership for another two-year term (2022-2023) and will continue to serve on its Data Protection Committee. Stephanie has facilitated INTA monthly roundtables and has volunteered for INTA’s Unreal Campaign, teaching local high school students about counterfeit goods. Stephanie is also a member of the William A. Ingram Inn of the American Inns of Court.

Stephanie routinely presents seminars on privacy and data security issues and intellectual property to businesses, accountants, lawyers and special interest groups, and has been a guest lecturer at Santa Clara University School of Law. She recently presented at the following seminars:

• Presenter, “CCPA:: What You Need to Do,” ISACA Silicon Valley, January 16. 2020
• Co-Presenter, “Don’t Leave Money on the Table!, IP Strategies to Grow Profits and Maximize Value,” Hoge Fenton, October 23, 2019

She also participated in a panel presentation to members of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners entitled, The Virtual Trip Wire: Litigation Holds & the Duty to Preserve Data in Security Breaches. Other upcoming speaking engagements include:

• Co-Presenter, “Co-Privacy Regulations:: The New Litigation Battleground,” Exterro/Jordan Lawrence, March 2020
• Presenter, “California Consumer Privacy Act:: What You Need to Know,” Hoge Fenton, Spring 2020

Recent Matters

• Guided client companies through the aftermath of data breach crises due to theft of laptops and servers, hackers, phishing, etc., including investigation and computer forensics, notification processes, public relations, internal employee relations, insurance coverage, dispute resolution, and litigation
• Secured a jury verdict for $6 million in liability and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs after a five-month jury trial involving trade secrets and unfair competition. Was responsible for key electronic evidence against the defendants through computer forensics. Also was responsible for the display of evidence in the courtroom using state-of-the-art technology, and successfully recovered those costs at the end of the trial
• Negotiated a favorable settlement in a lawsuit against her client, an electronic component manufacturing company, for misappropriation of trade secrets
• Prosecuted copyright infringement lawsuit to a favorable settlement for a commercial real estate mapping company
• Successfully defended copyright infringement lawsuit to a favorable settlement for a business broker
• Negotiated favorable resolution arising from complex patent license agreement
• Successfully prosecuted and defended over 50 trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and abroad in over 10 countries
• Prosecuted domain name disputes through the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Process (UDRP) on behalf of large, international private school and international skincare company, among others
• Manages trademark portfolios of firm clients in the U.S. and in over 30 foreign jurisdictions

Speaking Engagements & Articles

• Co-Presenter, Women in Technology Panel Discussion, CharmHealth, April 17, 2021
• Co-Presenter, Data Protection, Privacy & Cybersecurity in the Age of COVID, Mackrell International, November 4, 2020
• Co-Presenter, Best Practices for Managing a Remote Workforce, September 2, 2020
• Presenter, CCPA Enforcement Begins on July 1st – Will Your Business Be Ready?, June 24, 2020
• Presenter, California Consumer Privacy Act – What you need to know before July 1, 2020. March 11, 2020
• Co-Presenter, CLE EVENT-Bridge The Gap Between Legal And Data, The Master’s Conference, April 23, 2019
• Moderator, “GDPR Webinar: DPA Departure & Alternatives to GDPR”, January 23, 2018
• Moderator, “GDPR Webinar: Compliance for Non-EU Companies”, December 7, 2017
• Moderator, “GDPR Webinar: What does it require?”, October 31, 2017
• Moderator, “New Developments in Intellectual Property”, co-hosted with Santa Clara County Bar Association’s High Technology Section, June 10, 2014
• “What Would You Do if Someone Hacked Into Your Computer or Stole Your Laptop?”, Tri-Valley Estate Planning Council, November 7, 2013
• “Privacy, Data Security, and the Inevitable Breach”, The Estate Planning Council of Southern Alameda County, Fremont, California, September 12, 2013
• Panelist for Internal Revenue Service/San Jose State University MST Program, sponsored by CalCPA Silicon Valley-San Jose Chapter and the California Bar Taxation Section Young Tax Lawyers Committee, June 19, 2013
• “E-Discovery in the Data Breach Context” for Women in E-Discovery, November 14, 2012
• “The Virtual Office: Managing Information of a Remote Workforce” at ARMA (Association of Records Managers and Administrators) in Silicon Valley, November 8, 2012
• Panelist with the Honorable Matthew Sciarrino, Jr., New York City, on “E-Discovery, Privacy and Data Security Issues for Social Networking Web Sites”, and Moderator for expert-deposition boot camp at Paraben’s Forensic Innovations Conference, November 3-4, 2012
• “Take a Bite out of Data Security”, Abbott, Stringham & Lynch CPAs, San Jose, CA, September 26, 2012
• Panelist with VISA, Oracle and others at San Jose State University, “Security in the Cyber Age”, Edward Oates Symposium, September 14, 2012
• Author, “Can you quickly put your hands on a critical business record?”