The Legal 500

Within Copyright, tier 4

Fish & Richardson P.C. is better known for its patent capabilities, but also offers strength in copyright, particularly in publishing, design, online and software. The firm suffered a blow when it lost Mark Fischer, who led its media and copyright practices, to Duane Morris LLP in mid-2010. Cynthia Johnson Walden heads the trademark and copyright group and provides litigation, counseling and prosecution expertise. Highlights included defending the publishers in Reed Elsevier v Muchnick, a closely watched dispute which most recently reached the Supreme Court and determined that copyright registration was not required for a class action settlement. The firm also represented sculptor Frank Gaylord in an infringement suit regarding a commemorative stamp issued by the US Postal Service which featured a photograph of the client’s sculpture of the Korean War Memorial, with the Federal Circuit ruling in favor of Gaylord regarding the issue of fair use. Additional highlights included representing Five Dollars a Day LLC in a copyright declaratory judgment action to determine the rights to distribute the motion picture Five Dollars a Day, and winning summary judgment for Defendant L-3 Communications Corporation in multiple copyright cases involving source code for software used to track aircraft maintenance. Associate Kristin McCallion ‘brings a high level of energy to a case and has good analytical skills’.

Within Patent litigation: full coverage, Fish & Richardson P.C. is a second tier firm,

‘Highly strategic, with a very deep bench with non-paralleled IP backgrounds’, Fish & Richardson P.C. is a specialist IP firm that handles a high volume of patent litigation. Led by the firm’s litigation head Katherine Kelly Lutton, the team is highly praised for its ability to take on high-stakes lawsuits, and can ‘manage client expectations appropriately and deliver results’. Among its clients are leading names such as Microsoft, which it defended in ongoing litigation brought by Uniloc, with a trial jury overturning a previous ruling in favor of the plaintiff. However, a more recent Court of Appeals decision sided with Uniloc but ruled for a new trial on damages. In life sciences, Jonathan Singer is ‘terrific at working up a case’ and recently represented Allergan and Eurand as plaintiffs in separate Hatch-Waxman cases, with a favorable ruling achieved for the former affirming exclusive rights for a multimillion-dollar glaucoma drug. Singer was also involved in a Markman hearing relating to alleged video-streaming technology infringement, on behalf of multiple defendants against Acacia Media Technologies. ‘A wonderful trial lawyer’, Juanita Brooks won a month-long trial for Fresenius Medical Care, which rejected a patent infringement allegation brought by Baxter Healthcare. Brooks is also representing Cephalin and CIMA as plaintiffs in a Hatch-Waxman hearing to prevent generic versions of its cancer pain drug Fentora. Delaware-based attorneys William Marsden, Timothy Devlin and associate Susan Colletti are ‘all excellent litigation counsel’.

Within Patent litigation: International Trade Commission, Fish & Richardson P.C. is a second tier firm,

IP boutique Fish & Richardson P.C. regularly handles patent litigation cases before the ITC, with Ruffin Cordell highly regarded for his ITC experience, particularly in hi-tech and electronics sector cases, and was involved in many of the firm’s key Section 337 investigations of the past year. He acted for Paice in a case brought against Toyota regarding hybrid vehicle technology, with the parties reaching a settlement that ended all pending litigation. Cordell, along with Jeffrey Whieldon and hi-tech litigation specialist Michael McKeon, represented multiple respondents, including Samsung and Apple, in an investigation brought by Spansion alleging various patent violations involving flash memory technology. It also acted for Hewlett-Packard as complainant in an inkjet cartridge technology-related case against various domestic and Asian entities; the USITC granted Hewlett-Packard’s request for an exclusion order to bar all importation. The team lost ITC patent litigator Brian Nester to Sidley Austin LLP in late 2009.

Within Patent prosecution: utility and design patents , Fish & Richardson P.C. is a first tier firm,

Fish & Richardson P.C. has the second-largest IP team in the US, and is particularly noted for its expertise in the science and technology industries. Almost 80 of its 250 attorneys boast a PhD. After a tough 2009, its ‘excellent and knowledgeable’ patent prosecution practice went from strength to strength in 2010, with the New York office taking on the patent team from recently dissolved firm Darby & Darby, which includes life sciences expert Peter Ludwig and brought with it a sterling list of new clients and considerable experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Between January and October 2010, the firm filed 3,532 US patent applications, and had 1,837 issued, while also filing 2,568 foreign applications and obtaining 968. Longstanding clients include Google, Cisco, Smith & Nephew, Bank of America, Intel, AstraZeneca and Novartis, while the firm has also acquired a host of new clients. Although leading life sciences expert Tina Mckeon left to launch McKeon Meunier Carlin & Curfman, LLC in April 2010, Boston-based Jeffrey Barclay, Charles Hieken, Minneapolis-based life sciences expert Richard Anderson and Spencer Patterson in Dallas all come highly recommended..