IP Litigation

Trials
IP litigators at Steptoe & Johnson LLP know how to try cases to a jury, a judge, or an administrative panel.   Steptoe blends its litigation know-how with attorneys who have great experience in the relevant technology, commercial markets, and law, whether it be patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, privacy, constitutional, or a combination of them – to produce winning and efficient trial teams.

Steptoe’s attorneys have tried scores of cases to judgement for Fortune 500 companies, midsize companies, and small, emerging high-tech companies.

Some of the cases Steptoe attorneys have litigated have been among the most high profile cases of the last decade such as the Amazon.com v. barnesandnoble.com “One Click” business method patent case and the Priceline.com v. Microsoft “Name your Own Price” business method patent case.

Our partners have extensive litigation experience in courts throughout the United States and before the US International Trade Commission. They have been  lead counsel in several patent infringement litigations in federal district courts across the country.  Several of our IP litigators provide trial and appellate representation of corporations in major patent litigation cases.  One member of the team managed a patent litigation case for ACTV, Inc. against the Walt Disney Co., resulting in a claim construction victory for ACTV at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 

Our IP litigation team is comprised of seasoned trial lawyers that have litigated a broad array of intellectual property matters ranging from patent, trademark, copyright, and trade dress infringement allegations to patent/antitrust claims. Another member of the team successfully litigated important patent interferences before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, and trademark opposition/cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, in the US PTO.

Recent litigation cases include a successful trial in the Middle District of Alabama against Region University for infringement of the Regions mark of Regions Bank, a successful opposition to an application by Emerson Electric to register its Dirt Hog and Water Hog marks based on a family of Hawg marks of Black & Decker, and a decision of the Federal Circuit in favor of Texaco against the registration of a Clear Bottle mark by Pennzoil-Quaker State.

Our litigation experience includes:

• Federal trial courts—Steptoe attorneys have handled hundreds of IP cases in federal court. Steve Barber, Fredric Bellamy, Tim Bickham,John Caracappa, Scott Doyle, Rebecca Edelson, Harold Fox, Michael Heimbold, Susan Koegel, Robert Kovelman,Alfred Mamlet, Roger Parkhurst, Will Pecau, Charles Schill, Stanley Schlitter, Michael Allan, Tom Barletta, David Bodney, Bill Bosch, Frank Burke, Bruce Converse, Ben Cooper, Bob Fleishman, Chris Gibson, José González-Magaz, Seong Kim,Alice Kipel, Peter Kozinets, Paul Lall, Rachel Marmer, Peter Meyer, Meredith Moss, Mark Neubauer, Brooke Quist, Herb Shelley, Nick Wallwork, Roger Warin, Peter Wellington, Seth Watkins, Scott Watkins, Jamie Beaber, Andrew Chen, Paul Gennari, Dan Girdwood, Dylan Ruga, Whitney Winston
• Section 337 matters—Steptoe has one of the leading Section 337 practices and has handled over 85 Section 337 cases. Charles Schill, Alice Kipel John Caracappa, Scott Doyle, Tim Bickham, Steve Barber, Susan Koegel
• Appellate litigation—Steptoe IP attorneys regularly represent clients in appellate courts, including successful Supreme Court representations in Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox, and Cardinal Chemical Co. v. Morton Intl. Inc.

Intellectual Property Litigation Representative Matters

• Patent Litigation Matters  
• Trademark Litigation Matters
• Section 337/ITC Matters
• Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition Matters

Noteworthy

• Our attorneys have handled over 80 Section 337 cases—litigating many cases to final decisions, and settling and licensing many others, on terms favorable to our clients, which have involved a wide range of alleged unfair importation practices.

Select News & Events

• Fourteen Steptoe & Johnson LLP Attorneys in Phoenix are Named Super Lawyers

Publications

• Big Suits: Verizon v. Vonage
  October 2006, IP Law & Business
• How to Start From Behind and Finish Ahead: Section 337 From a Respondent's Perspective
  September 12, 2005
• How US Trade Laws Can Be Used to Protect Valuable Intellectual Property
  May 1, 2005
• Nanotechnology Thriving on Patents
  April 2005, Intellectual Property Today