Intellectual Property Litigation

The firm has substantial experience in all aspects of intellectual property litigation, including patent, copyright, and trademark litigation; trade secret misappropriation; and Internet-law and domain-name disputes.  We have an especially strong and successful patent litigation practice.  For example:

In what has been called “one of the most influential patent cases of 2006,” the firm won a published, en banc decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit clarifying what constitutes “inducement” of patent infringement.  The decision exonerated our client from all infringement liability.  DSU Medical Corp. v. JMS Co., 471 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2006).

The firm successfully defended a large patent infringement case brought by Acacia Research Corporation against seventeen defendants that included IBM, Oracle, Symantec, and the firm’s client, F-Secure, Inc., a publicly-traded network and computer security company.  The case was settled favorably.  DSC v. Symantec, Case No. 8:06-cv-01211 DOC (C.D. Cal. Dec. 14, 2006). 

In partnership with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the firm filed a U.S. Supreme Court friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the prevailing side in a “patent exhaustion” case. Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc., 128 S.Ct. 2109 (2008). 

The firm won the early dismissal of all claims in a patent lawsuit brought against a Chicago-area technology services supplier.  Shoom, Inc. v. eISA, Inc., 2006 WL 1529983 (N.D. Cal. June 1, 2006).

The firm successfully defended Lycos, Inc. against charges of copyright infringement based on the alleged expiration of a software license. 

The firm sued Hilton Hotels Corporation and its art supplier for copyright infringement.  The case settled favorably.  Brackett v. Hilton Hotels Corp., Case No. CV 08-02100 WHA (N.D. Cal. April 22, 2008).   

The firm successfully defended the owners of “myinfospace.com” against charges of trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and domain name piracy brought by InfoSpace Corporation, then a multi-billion-dollar Internet content provider.

Technology Litigation

The firm won a seven-figure damage award for a leading Application Service Provider, after a fifteen-day arbitration in which the Arbitrator ruled in favor of the ASP on all issues and rejected all asserted counterclaims. 

The firm successfully resolved a dispute that arose in the middle of a multi-year, multi-million-dollar Website development contract between two publicly-traded companies.

The firm has successfully counseled many technology companies facing indemnification demands from downstream customers, after the customers were sued or threatened with suit for infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties. 

General Commercial Litigation

The firm’s attorneys also have broad experience with commercial and civil litigation cases.  For example:

The firm won summary judgment for a San Francisco City Supervisor and leading civic figure who had been sued for wrongful eviction in a politicized lawsuit filed just as the Supervisor began his campaign for re-election.  

The firm has been retained in cases involving allegations of commercial fraud, trade libel, wrongful termination of employment; and creditors’ and debtors’ rights. 

The firm has successfully brought and defended many breach-of-contract cases.