Intellectual Property

Pfizer

For more than 20 years, we have served as IP counsel to Pfizer, handling patent litigation in US district courts, appeals before the Federal Circuit and proceedings before the PTAB. This longstanding relationship gives our team deep knowledge of Pfizer's patent portfolio and business, which lets us respond quickly to new challenges and keep strategy consistent across matters. Pfizer benefits from one team that understands its products, competitors and litigation history.

Ferguson Enterprises

We ended WAC Lighting's litigation campaign against Ferguson Enterprises and its Minka Lighting subsidiary, securing a covenant not to sue on Ferguson's key patent portfolios. WAC had asserted three patents at the ITC, seeking to block imports of Ferguson's smart ceiling fans, and later filed a related suit in the Eastern District of Virginia over LED patents. We developed prior art that led WAC to drop one patent, challenged WAC's claimed domestic-industry investment and helped Ferguson bring its own state court claims against WAC for copying its designs. That pressure on multiple fronts led WAC to abandon its litigation, clearing the way for Ferguson to continue selling its smart ceiling fans without further threat.

Microsoft

We won summary judgment for Microsoft, resolving a decade-long patent suit brought by Corel, the maker of WordPerfect, in Corel Corp. v. Microsoft Corp. Corel claimed Microsoft copied its "Real Time Preview" feature across products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, and sought US$4.6 billion in damages. After two of Corel's patents were invalidated earlier in the case, the court ruled the final patent's claims invalid as obvious, resolving every claim in Microsoft's favor. We were named The American Lawyer's Litigator of the Week for the win.

Premier Inn

We won dismissal of every claim against Premier Inn in easyGroup v. Premier Inn Hotels, a UK trademark dispute that could have affected Premier Inn's network of more than 840 hotels. easyGroup had argued that Premier Inn's "Rest Easy" branding infringed three registered marks: easyHotel, easy (stylized) and Rest Easy Apartments. In 2025, the High Court ruled in Premier Inn's favor, finding no evidence that the branding confused consumers. The case was later named "Impact Case of the Year" at the Managing IP EMEA Awards.

Private bank in Germany

We represent a leading German private bank in proceedings before the Munich courts against two former senior employees. The dispute concerns allegations that the former employees misappropriated client data and are now using it to unfairly solicit clients in breach of the German Act Against Unfair Competition (UWG) and the German Trade Secrets Act (GeschGehG).

ROSS

We secured a stay of trial and certification of the fair use question to the Third Circuit for ROSS Intelligence in Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. ROSS Intelligence Inc., the first US copyright case testing whether training AI models on copyrighted material is fair use. That ruling set up the first appellate decision on the issue, which will shape how courts evaluate AI training practices going forward. We were recognized by The American Lawyer's "Litigator of the Week" and Law360's "Legal Lions of the Week" for the result.

Snap

We ended Xerox's patent campaign against Snap, Twitter and Facebook in Xerox Corp. v. Snap Inc., invalidating every asserted patent and securing dismissal of the case against Snap. Snap's goal was not just to win its own case, but to remove Xerox's incentive to keep pursuing all three companies. We invalidated one of the three patents early under Section 101, filed IPRs on the remaining two, and won a stay of Snap's case before the PTAB had even decided whether to institute review. The PTAB found every challenged claim unpatentable, and the Federal Circuit affirmed in 2025, ending the case against Snap.

Trend Micro

We settled a multi-venue patent dispute for Trend Micro on terms more favorable than what other co-defendants paid, across Webroot Inc. v. Trend Micro Inc. in the Western District of Texas and Trend Micro Inc. v. Open Text Inc. in the Eastern District of Virginia. Webroot initially sued Trend Micro on six patents in the Western District of Texas, and we countersued on additional Trend Micro patents and identified others to assert as prior art against Webroot's claims. That approach put Trend Micro in a stronger negotiating position than the other defendants in the case. After several Markman hearings and extensive discovery, and with Trend Micro continuing to press its own claims, the parties reached a settlement favorable to Trend Micro.

Voltage

The ITC cleared Voltage of infringing Shoals Technologies Group's solar connector patents, finding no Section 337 violation and reversing the administrative law judge's initial ruling—an uncommon result at the ITC. We eliminated one patent on summary determination, secured claim construction that led Shoals to abandon a second, and persuaded the commission to overturn the adverse ruling on the third, while affirming that Voltage's alternative design did not infringe. The decision allowed Voltage to continue selling its solar technology without modification and saw Shoals; share price fall 23 percent following the ruling. The result was recognized as a runner-up for The American Lawyer's "Litigator of the Week," and we continue to represent Voltage in related litigation against Shoals.

X Corp.

The PTAB held every challenged claim of Sterling Computers' patent, US Patent No. 7,716,217, unpatentable in X Corp. v. Sterling Computers Corp., eliminating the patent behind Sterling's campaign against X Corp, Microsoft and Meta. The patent targeted the algorithm behind X's individualized user timeline, a core product feature. We led X's defense, filing the first IPR petition among the co-defendants and pairing it with an early stay request in the Western District of Texas. The court granted the stay, and the other defendants followed X's lead. The PTAB's decision to review the patent was notable because institution rates had fallen to a five-year low; after review began, X overcame contested board discovery disputes and Sterling's attempt to claim an earlier invention date, securing invalidation of every challenged claim.