Kira Stearns, Ph.D., has expertise in industrial organization, the economics of innovation and technology, pharmaceutical economics, and applied econometrics. Dr. Stearns applies her expertise to conduct rigorous analysis in complex commercial litigations and assist clients in critical decision making. Some of these matters have included issues of monopolization and attempted monopolization, patent, trademark, and copyright infringement, mergers and acquisitions, and breach of contract.

Dr. Stearns has been involved in high-stakes litigation and economic consulting across a range of industries that include biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, technology platforms, consumer electronics, and healthcare technology.

A few examples of Dr. Stearns’s work include the following projects:

Lost profits and reasonable royalties related to biotechnology patents: Evaluated reasonable royalties relating to alleged infringement of biotechnology patents, including analysis of marketplace competition, pricing, substitution between products, and apportionment to the patented technology.

Analysis of alleged anticompetitive harm relating to patent accumulation and aggregation: Evaluated anticompetitive harm and damages pertaining to alleged anticompetitive acquisition of patent portfolio relating to microfluidic technology used in genetic analysis.

Analysis of anti-competitive behaviors under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act: Analyzed antitrust allegations involving monopolization and tying related to mobile app distribution under §§ 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, addressing issues including market definition, market power, and tying behavior. Evaluated pro-competitive justifications and anti-competitive effects of tying on market participants generally and plaintiffs specifically. Determined a but-for commission and analyzed overcharge damages based on difference between actual commission and but-for commission.

Analysis of the domestic industry and public interest in the International Trade Commission: Quantified economic domestic industry for complainant on products utilizing electronic cigarette technology. Analyzed potential impact on the public interest for requested exclusion order of accused product, including evaluation of the competitive dynamics in the marketplace, potential barriers to marketplace entry, economic differences between domestic and international marketplaces, and marketing strategy of respondent.

Dr. Stearns is an accomplished speaker, having presented at numerous academic conferences and universities both nationally and internationally.

Before joining Secretariat, Dr. Stearns was an economist at Intensity. She has held positions at an economics consulting firm engaged in various antitrust and intellectual property cases. Her work included exploring the anticompetitive implications of mergers and acquisitions, exclusive contracts, tying and bundling, and employee non-compete agreements. Much of her work was in the healthcare industry, and she developed expertise in issues facing hospitals, health insurers, and pharmaceutical companies.