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Elissa N. Tenenbaum

Associate
Associate
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VCard
VCard

Areas of Focus

Overview

Elissa Tenenbaum represents clients in intellectual property matters, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secrets matters, in federal courts, and before the ITC. Her experience includes drafting motions for patent and trademark litigation and patent and trademark office action responses.

Elissa is an associate in Crowell & Moring’s Chicago office, where she splits her practice between the Patent and ITC Litigation and Patent Prosecution groups.

During law school, she was the managing editor of the Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property, a member of the school’s Society of Women in Law, and a member of the Intellectual Property Law Society. Elissa was also a law clerk, where she drafted patent and trademark applications.

Career & Education

    • University of Michigan, B.S., cum laude, mechanical engineering, 2018
    • Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., 2021
    • University of Michigan, B.S., cum laude, mechanical engineering, 2018
    • Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., 2021

    • Illinois
    • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, General Bar
    • Illinois
    • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, General Bar

  • Professional Activities and Memberships

    • American Bar Association, Member
    • Chicago Women in IP, Member 
    • Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago, Member

    Professional Activities and Memberships

    • American Bar Association, Member
    • Chicago Women in IP, Member 
    • Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago, Member

Elissa's Insights

Client Alert | 2 min read | 06.15.26

Kansas Federal Court Applies “Selective Enforcement” Theory to Reject DTSA Claim

A Kansas federal court held that inconsistent enforcement of trade secret rights can defeat a claim under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). In Edelman Financial Engines, LLC v. Mariner Wealth Advisors LLC, No. 2:23-cv-02515-HLT (D. Kan. June 5, 2026), the court applied a selective enforcement theory, holding that when a company does not consistently pursue legal remedies against similarly situated former employees, that inconsistency can be affirmative evidence that it failed to protect its trade secrets. While the selective enforcement theory has appeared in academic hypothetical discussions, the decision appears to be one of the clearest judicial applications of a “selective enforcement” theory in a trade secret case....

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Representative Matters

  • Secured a significant victory (a preliminary injunction against patent infringement through trial) on behalf of Lonza Walkersville, Inc. against Israel-based Adva Biotechnology Ltd. in a case involving point-of-care cell-therapy technology.
  • Secured jury verdict, judgment and eight figure damages award following weeks’ long trial in Delaware Superior Court for c3.ai, a leading Enterprise AI software and application company, in novel matter alleging its former customer, diesel engine manufacturer Cummins Inc., misappropriated c3.ai's trade secrets and breached the parties’ contract by studying c3.ai's trade secrets and replicating them into Cummins' own application.

Elissa's Insights

Client Alert | 2 min read | 06.15.26

Kansas Federal Court Applies “Selective Enforcement” Theory to Reject DTSA Claim

A Kansas federal court held that inconsistent enforcement of trade secret rights can defeat a claim under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). In Edelman Financial Engines, LLC v. Mariner Wealth Advisors LLC, No. 2:23-cv-02515-HLT (D. Kan. June 5, 2026), the court applied a selective enforcement theory, holding that when a company does not consistently pursue legal remedies against similarly situated former employees, that inconsistency can be affirmative evidence that it failed to protect its trade secrets. While the selective enforcement theory has appeared in academic hypothetical discussions, the decision appears to be one of the clearest judicial applications of a “selective enforcement” theory in a trade secret case....

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Practices

Industries

Elissa's Insights

Client Alert | 2 min read | 06.15.26

Kansas Federal Court Applies “Selective Enforcement” Theory to Reject DTSA Claim

A Kansas federal court held that inconsistent enforcement of trade secret rights can defeat a claim under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). In Edelman Financial Engines, LLC v. Mariner Wealth Advisors LLC, No. 2:23-cv-02515-HLT (D. Kan. June 5, 2026), the court applied a selective enforcement theory, holding that when a company does not consistently pursue legal remedies against similarly situated former employees, that inconsistency can be affirmative evidence that it failed to protect its trade secrets. While the selective enforcement theory has appeared in academic hypothetical discussions, the decision appears to be one of the clearest judicial applications of a “selective enforcement” theory in a trade secret case....

View All Insights