Intellectual Property Litigation

Serving some of the world’s most profitable and innovative IP-driven companies, our patent litigation team achieves desired results when trying, arbitrating, and mediating US and international disputes. Our patent litigators try scores of cases to verdict in jury and bench trials, and achieve success in preliminary and permanent injunction proceedings. Our IP litigation practice is one of the highest-ranked IP practices in the country and is regularly recognized by leading publications.

We have a strong track record that includes widely reported verdicts for both plaintiffs and defendants. For example, we recently obtained a $268 million judgment in the Central District of California where the court doubled the damages for willful infringement in Alfred Mann Foundation for Scientific Research v. Cochlear Corp., and we won a complete trial victory in the District of Delaware in an 11-patent infringement case, INO Therapeutics LLC v. Praxair Distribution Inc.

Our patent litigation services encompass patent district court litigation, ITC investigations, patent litigation in the Court of Federal Claims, and post-grant review proceedings before the USPTO. Our patent litigators are based throughout our offices around the globe.

We have experience litigating IP cases in more than 35 states’ district courts, as well as before the US Supreme Court, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the ITC, the USPTO, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and in arbitrations under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and other arbitral bodies. We represent plaintiffs and defendants in every patent litigation hot spot, including the District of Delaware, Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of California, Central District of California, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of Virginia, District of New Jersey, and Western District of Wisconsin.

Our IP litigation team is tightly integrated with our international and commercial litigation lawyers, drawing on the strength of hundreds of litigators in our offices across the United States, Asia, and Europe.

More than ever, it is important for a company to present a well-crafted image to its customers and the world. Through branding, marketing, and advertising, a company can set itself apart and create core equity and significant value in its goodwill. Our IP professionals understand that need, and have experience in all aspects of US domestic and international brand-related IP law.

We have a strong track record of bringing and defending trademark and trade dress infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising cases. Plaintiffs and defendants rely on us in high-profile litigation. 

Our team obtains and defends against temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. We also handle high-stakes appeals and manage complex multijurisdictional litigation, as well as trademark oppositions and cancellations (before the TTAB and internationally), National Advertising Division (NAD) advertising proceedings, and ICANN domain name arbitration proceedings.

We also have a strong track record in connection with copyright disputes, both involving software and more traditional media. We represent major software companies in cases involving infringement of computer code. Clients also seek our representation in other copyright disputes, including licensing disputes, infringement claims concerning web content, and copyright claims based on photographs and other content used in newspapers, textbooks, and other media.

Our trademark-copyright litigators try cases in industries such as consumer products, pharmaceuticals, fragrances and cosmetics, toys and games, insurance, motion pictures, construction, and online retailing. On behalf of clients, our litigators coordinate US trademark matters with related international trademark litigation. We conduct and manage discovery in jurisdictions around the world.

Learn more about our Trademark, Copyright, Advertising Litigation & Brand Management team >

We regularly pursue and defend claims for misappropriation of trade secrets on behalf of a broad range of clients. Whether a matter involves client lists or sophisticated technology and software, our deep bench of litigators assist with trade secrets matters in state or federal court, including assistance with injunctions to prevent actual or threatened misuse of trade secrets and other confidential information. In light of the recently enacted US Defend Trade Secrets Act, we can also pursue ex parte applications to seize property to prevent the propagation or dissemination of trade secrets. We act swiftly in trade secrets actions to discover and preserve evidence and to provide skilled representation that minimizes the impact on our clients. We also represent clients in matters involving criminal theft of trade secrets, foreign economic espionage, and violations of computer data access and fraud laws. Our litigators have handled trade secret matters from inception through trial in courts across the United States arising from employee departures, breaches of nondisclosure agreements, and other circumstances.

We offer clients integrated, strategic solutions to complex patent litigation based on our long history of successfully representing biologics and pharmaceutical companies in a variety of matters, including Biosimilar Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) and Hatch-Waxman cases, as well as inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. Our highly ranked practice includes lawyers who are regularly recognized by leading publications such as IAM and LMG Life Sciences.

Our team, which includes several first-chair trial lawyers with decades of experience litigating complex bet-the-company matters, together holds nearly 25 Ph.D.s and 15 Master’s degrees in substantive technical fields like molecular biology, organic chemistry, and biochemistry. Many lawyers on the team also have in-house pharmaceutical experience.

Our patent litigation practice includes appellate lawyers who regularly argue some of the most-watched cases affecting biologics and pharmaceuticals before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and US Supreme Court. They also have significant experience at the International Trade Commission, with most having clerkship experience at the Federal Circuit or Supreme Court.

With the experience and knowledge we have gained through litigating some of the most hotly contested matters in the bio/pharma space, we are well positioned to handle the entire life cycle of a complex biologics or pharmaceutical litigation.

When it comes to post-grant proceedings at the USPTO, Morgan Lewis has great strength in its technical knowledge, dispute experience, and established Washington, DC presence. We prosecute adversarial proceedings before the USPTO and have for decades. Our experience with adversarial proceedings spans appeals, reissues, reexaminations, and interferences. We routinely litigate complex patent matters, including taking and defending depositions and arguing before courts and administrative panels.

We handle hundreds of post-grant proceedings at the USPTO, including reexaminations, inter partes reviews, and covered business method reviews. In fact, we handled the second-ever inter partes review argued to the USPTO. Recently we were able to assist a patent-owner client in getting a number of inter partes and covered business method reviews dismissed.

Read more about post-grant proceedings.

Our lawyers offer litigation capability and scientific depth on behalf of our clients in the fast-paced, high-stakes proceedings before the ITC. We prevail in our clients’ complex cases at trial and on appeal, litigating patent and technology matters in forums across the United States.

Many of our ITC clients are based outside of the United States. With our global resources, including offices in Singapore, China, Tokyo, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, and Dubai, Morgan Lewis provides the benefits of a global firm with the customized service of dedicated ITC litigators.