Skip to main content
Home
Home

Susan E. Foster

Partner

Susan E. Foster

For more than 35 years, Susan has guided clients in high-stakes matters.

Susan Foster counsels on and litigates antitrust and trade regulation matters, as well as intellectual property and other business and financial disputes. She advises clients on a range of antitrust and marketing issues including distribution counseling, advertising and promotions, strategic alliances, and Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification matters. 

Her clients include leaders in technology and aerospace.  

Education & Credentials

Education

  • Seattle University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, Lead Articles Editor, Puget Sound Law Review, 1987 - 1988, 1988
  • Pacific Lutheran University, B.A., Legal Studies, 1984

Bar and Court Admissions

  • Washington
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Professional Recognition

  • Listed in Chambers USA as "America's Leading Lawyers" in Antitrust, 2022-2024

  • Named Best Lawyers’ Seattle "Antitrust Law Lawyer of the Year," 2014, 2018, 2020, 2023; "Trade Secrets Law Lawyer of the Year," 2025

  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America: Antitrust Law; Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Antitrust; Litigation - Intellectual Property, 2018-2025; Trade Secrets, 2023-2025

  • Listed in Marquis Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American Women

  • King County Bar Volunteer of the Month, September 2002

Impact

Professional Leadership

  • Perkins Coie Audit Committee, Chair, January 2004-2008
  • Perkins Coie Executive Committee, Member, 2005-2008
  • Hate Free Zone, Advisory Board, 2002-2003
  • Washington State Bar Association; Consumer Protection, Antitrust and Unfair Business Practice Section, Executive Committee, 1994-2003, Chair, 2000-2001
  • Pacific Northwest Ballet, Board of Trustees, 1997-2002
  • American Bar Association; Antitrust Section; Litigation Section - Business Torts Co-Chair Pacific Northwest Division, 1996-2001
  • Corporate Council for the Arts, Associates Program, 1993-1996

Professional Experience

Antitrust & Unfair Competition Litigation

Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL) v. Acuson Corporation

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Counsel to plaintiff ATL in Lanham Act - false advertising and unfair competition claims. Case resolved successfully in private trial. Injunction entered in federal court in favor of client.

California, et al. v. ARC America Corporation

U.S. Supreme Court
Counsel for amicus in Supreme Court case involving antitrust preemption and standing. 490 U.S. 93 (1989)

Canadian Lumber Antitrust Litigation

U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Successfully defended multidistrict antitrust price-fixing class action regarding Canadian lumber. Case dismissed by District Court on Rule 12 motion; affirmed by Court of Appeals.

CollegeNet v. XAP

U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
Represented plaintiff CollegeNet in successful Lanham Act claim against competitor alleging false advertising of online privacy practices and successful defense of patent against claims of inequitable conduct. Settled pending appeal after entry of injunction and successful trial verdict.

Digital Systems International Inc. v. Electronic Information Systems Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff DSI in Lanham Act/false advertising, unfair competition claim relating to computerized dialing equipment. Obtained jury verdict of $4.8 million.

eNom v. Register.com

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff registrar in action against competitor alleging illegal domain name blocking.

Hollister Steir v. Lincoln Diagnostics

U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
Circuit Court of Illinois, Macoon County
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented Hollister-Steir in trademark/false advertising action involving medical testing devices.

HTC v. Ericsson

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Representing HTC in litigation challenging whether defendant’s licensing of cellular and Wi-Fi network patents for smartphones complied with requirements of U.S. antitrust law and defendant’s fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) commitments to standard setting organizations.

GL&V USA Inc. v. Ormac Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff in a patent/antitrust action involving pulp production technology.

Intimate Bookshop v. Barnes and Noble, inc. Amazon.com, inc., et al.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Represented defendant Amazon in Robinson-Patman price discrimination claim. Case settled.

Oberto v. JBS

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff in breach of non-compete agreement against former protein supplier. Obtained preliminary injunction prior to settlement.

Service Professionals Inc. v. Continental DataGraphics

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Represented defendant in trade association-related antitrust action. Case voluntarily dismissed pending defendant's motion to dismiss.

Supreme Corq LLC v. Nomaco Inc. and Nomacorc LLC

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented Nomaco Inc. and Nomacorc LLC in patent infringement and antitrust case involving synthetic wine corks.

STMicro v. Avago Technologies Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Represented plaintiff STMicro in antitrust action challenging patent activity. Case settled in connection with pending patent litigation.

TriQuint Semiconductor v. Avago Technologies Inc.

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Represented plaintiff and counterclaim defendant TriQuint in successful patent, trade secret antitrust action involving RF duplexers and filters. Antitrust case challenged patent acquisition and abuse activities under Clayton 7 and Sherman 2. Case settled after successful summary judgment rulings.

Intellectual Property Litigation

Move, Inc. v. Zillow, Inc.

King County Superior Court (Washington)
Represented the defendant Zillow in an employment-related unfair competition/ trade secrets case against its largest competitor in which the plaintiffs sought approximately $2 billion in damages. After the Court dismissed more than $1 billion of plaintiffs’ claimed damages, found in favor of Zillow on allegations of spoliation, and granted several of the client’s motions for partial summary judgment including dismissal of most of plaintiffs’ tort-based claims, case settled on what was scheduled to be the first day of trial.

Aventail Corporation v. Netscreen Technologies Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff in trademark and unfair competition action involving SSL VPN managed appliances, systems and related services.

BC-USA Inc. v. Williams, Monterey

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff BC-USA Inc. in competitor non-compete and trade secret misappropriation.

Chihuly Inc. v. Rubino, et al.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff Chihuly Inc. and Dale Chihuly in copyright, trademark, trade dress, unfair competition and copyright ownership. Case settled.

CollegeNET Inc. v. ApplyYourself Inc.

U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
Represented plaintiff in patent infringement litigation involving college admission application processing software. See also CollegeNET v. Xap, and CollegeNet v. ApplicationsOnline.

Conseco v. Busch, et al.

Represented plaintiff Conseco in employee trade secret misappropriation and breach of confidentiality claim. TRO granted. Case settled.

Expedia v. Rodriquez, et al.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented defendant in employee/competitor trade secret misappropriation.

Fluke Corporation v. Ratner

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff Fluke in declaratory judgment action involving design patent.

Fluke Corporation v. Tektronix Inc. (And Related Cases)

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff Fluke in series of trademark/trade dress cases.

Genie Industries Inc. v. JLG Industries Inc., et al.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented plaintiff in employee/competitor trade secret misappropriation claim. TRO granted. Case settled.

Haverhill Research Institute v. Jore Corporation

U.S. District Court for the District of Montana
Represented defendant in trade secret, tort and contract action involving ion cutting gun and cold spray technology.

IMPCO Technologies Inc. v. GFI Control Systems Inc. & Dynetek Industries Inc.

Represented plaintiff in patent infringement case involving hydrogen technology.

Myrio v. Minerva

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Represented plaintiff in competitor trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract and unfair competition claim involving IP TV technology.

StorageTek v. ADIC

U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
Represented defendant ADIC in trade secret misappropriation claim.

Visio v. Intellisense

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Represented plaintiff Visio in trademark case.

Wal-Mart Stores v. Amazon.com

Superior Court of Arkansas, Benton County
Washington State Superior Court
Represented defendant Amazon.com in inevitable disclosure trade secret case regarding data warehousing and other computer technologies. Case settled following successful pretrial motions.

Consumer Protection

Ledesma v. Greentree

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
Represented defendant Greentree in consumer protection action. Motion to dismiss granted.

Olds, et al. v. Qwest

Represented defendant Qwest in class action alleging fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, unfair business practices and tariff violations. Settlement class certified and settlement approved.

Litigation

Ali v. Gonzales

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Obtained district court injunction on behalf of a nationwide class, preventing the government from removing over 3,000 individuals to Somalia. The Ninth Circuit affirmed, rejecting the contrary view of the Eighth Circuit. Filed amicus on behalf of client in the Supreme Court's consideration of the circuit split in Jama v. ICE, 543 U.S. 335 (2005). After the Supreme Court upheld the Eighth Circuit's decision by a 5-4 vote, the Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction in this case. 213 F.R.D. 390 (W.D. Wash.), aff'd, 346 F.3d 873 (9th Cir. 2003), vacated and remanded, 421 F.3d 795 (9th Cir. 2005)

Hawaiian Airlines Inc.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Hawaii
Representation of Boeing and affiliates in a heavily contested motion for appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee based on mismanagement and malfeasance related to CEO and majority owner's stock repurchase prior to insolvency. Motion granted following trial.

Leftbank Management Inc. v. RealNetworks Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented defendant RealNetworks Inc. in litigation involving ownership of corporation. Case settled pending defendant's summary judgment.

Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas v. The Boeing Company

Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Represented defendant Boeing in claim for return of advance payments.

Leonard v. Alamo Group

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Represent purchasers in connection with dispute involving asset purchase agreement.

Pegasus Aviation, Inc. v. California Bank & Trust, et al.

State Court of California
Lead counsel retained to pursue and defend claims on behalf of certain minority shareholder interests.

The Profile Group v. Earth Broadcasting Corporation

Third Judicial District
Represent defendant Internet broadcasting station ("the Dial") in claim relating to venture funding and ownership of stock.

T.R. v. Dreyfus and Porter

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented juvenile plaintiffs in class action to enforce right to mental health services under the Medicaid Act.

Antitrust Counseling & Merger Clearance

Acquisition of Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc.

Advised Boeing in successful efforts to obtain antitrust and competition clearance in the United States and Europe for acquisition of aviation charts company.

Antitrust Counseling for Very Large Commercial Transport (VLCT) Joint Venture

Antitrust counsel to Boeing in a potential joint venture with members of the Airbus Consortium for a very large commercial jet transport.

AT&T/McCaw Cellular Merger

Counsel to McCaw Cellular in antitrust challenge by Federal Trade Commission.

Distribution Counseling

Provide advice to manufacturers, distributors, and retailers with respect to pricing and discount policies, distribution programs, loyalty programs, cooperative advertising programs and related issues.

Divestiture of Software Company

Represented software company in challenge to merger of competitors and in subsequent acquisition of divested assets.

Merger of AEI Music/DMX

Antitrust counsel to AEI Music in AEI Music/DMX merger.

In re The Boeing company Acquisition of Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc.

Represented Boeing in defense of challenge by French competition authorities of its acquisition of Jeppesen. Government challenge overruled by ruling of the French Competition Council.

In re Merger of The Boeing Company and McDonnell Douglas Corporation

Antitrust counsel to Boeing in proceedings before Federal Trade Commission and European Commission, leading to approval of aerospace merger.

Merger of Boeing & Rockwell

Antitrust counsel to Boeing in merger of Boeing and Rockwell.

Merger of Medtronic/Spinal Dynamics

Antitrust counsel to Spinal Dynamics in Medtronic/Spinal Dynamics merger.

Merger of Puget Sound Power & Light Company and Washington Energy Company

Antitrust counsel to Puget Sound Power on its merger with Washington Energy that formed Puget Sound Energy Inc.

Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures

Provide counsel to joint ventures and joint venture/strategic alliance members with respect to formation and operation issues, in aerospace, digital publication, food service, financial services and manufacturing industries.

Advertising, Marketing & Promotions

Advertising Advice And Counseling

Advertising advice and counseling to clients in a broad range of industries including software, service and Internet providers, medical device manufacturers, computer hardware providers, gaming companies, exercise equipment manufacturers, home furnishing providers, chain retailers, nutritional supplement and others.

Home
Jump back to top