Unmatched win record in tough, high stakes cases

Trusted by the world's leading companies with their toughest cases

Recognized at top of profession

Extensive experience in key jurisdictions

Deep technology expertise

Innovative technology tools drive efficiency

True partnering with clients

When companies have high-stakes patent disputes – matters where the quality of the advocacy and judgment make the difference between winning and losing – they repeatedly turn to Weil’s Patent Litigation Group. When Microsoft’s Windows XP® operating system was threatened with litigation that sought an injunction – and over $750 million in damages – in the Eastern District of Texas, Microsoft entrusted Weil with trying this case. The jury found no infringement and invalidated the patent of Microsoft’s opponent. When Cisco®’s network routers, often called the ‘backbone of the internet,’ were accused of infringement, Cisco called on Weil, which won a jury verdict of non-infringement and patent invalidity in a victory that the legal press celebrated as a “Defense Win of the Year.” When the inventorship of the patents that protect Applera®’s DNA sequencers – the machines used in The Human Genome Project to sequence the human genome – were challenged, Applera turned to Weil for its defense at trial, and we won. And when Yeda Research Development Co., Ltd. discovered that the inventors named on the patent that protected ImClone’s blockbuster cancer drug, Erbitux™, should have been Yeda’s scientists, Yeda turned to Weil – which, after a three-week trial, obtained a victory that Fortune magazine called “unequivocal.”

Part of Weil's 500-lawyer celebrated Litigation Group, with lawyers based in five offices nationwide, Weil’s Patent Litigation Group has for years received extensive recognition from its clients, peers, and the press as a best-of-breed practice. You can find more information about our practice by clicking the links to the left or by contacting one of the co-heads of the practice.

Recognitions and Rankings

Weil’s Patent Litigation Group has more than 100 lawyers based in five offices nationwide. The group has received extensive recognition from a wide range of authoritative sources.

• Chambers USA 2009 recognized Weil as a “nationally acclaimed and highly sought-after team” who are “keenly aware of what everyone else is doing at every stage, ensuring that nothing can go awry,” and clients highlight “the group's excellent industry knowledge” and “responsive lawyers, who constantly look for opportunities to make the litigation process more efficient for us.”
• Our lawyers are considered to be “innovators in the patent litigation field” with “deep trial skills” who are “always on top of the issue.” The team was also recognized for its “group of talented young associates.” Legal 500 US 2009
• Chambers USA 2008 recognized Weil as a “dominant force in this area,” reporting that it is “an excellent choice for sophisticated IP issues” and boasts “tremendous top-to-bottom consistency.”
• Legal 500 US 2008 recognized Weil’s Patent Litigation Group as the “top-end solution” and described its lawyers as “the top patent litigators in the country.”
• Chambers USA 2007 recognized Weil’s Patent Litigation Group as the best in the country by awarding it the 2007 Chambers Award for Excellence, describing the group as “the undisputed heavyweight champion,” reporting that it “habitually takes on intricate, exciting matters,” and specifically noting the “group’s dedication to clients’ happiness.”
• “Its focused and committed group of talented experts is armed with an enviable pool of resources, making Weil, Gotshal & Manges a certain leader in the field. The team regularly takes on complex, high-profile cases that set the standard for competitors.” Chambers USA 2006
• The group was ranked one of the top five Intellectual Property practices in the country in The American Lawyer 2005 Litigation Department of the Year competition.
• Chambers USA 2003-2005 named Weil as one of only three firms having one of the top intellectual property practices in both their East and West Coast rankings.

Individual lawyers in our Group have been repeatedly recognized in publications such as The American Lawyer, California Lawyer, Chambers Global, Chambers USA, The Daily Journal, LawDragon, Managing Intellectual Property, The National Law Journal, and Texas Lawyer Magazine as leaders in the field.

Track Record of Success

Our Patent Litigation Group has earned top recognition because the quality of our advocacy, and our judgment, commitment, and experience, has produced a track record of success in high-stakes matters like the following:

• BioPharma We won a 2007 three-week patent trial for Yeda Research & Development Co., Ltd. against ImClone Systems Incorporated over who invented a key patent covering ImClone's sole product, the blockbuster anti-cancer drug Erbitux®. The S.D.N.Y. issued a 140-page decision finding in Yeda’s favor on all issues in a victory that Fortune magazine called “unequivocal.”
• Biotechnology We won a 2003 trial challenging the inventorship of the patents on the pioneering DNA sequencers used to map the human genome in The Human Genome Project. Separately, we won a $35 million judgment for Applera in its jury trial against MJ Research concerning Nobel Prize-winning PCR technology.
• Computers We won a jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas for Microsoft in a litigation that threatened Microsoft with an injunction against its Windows XP® operating system – and over $750 million in damages. The jury found no infringement and invalidated the patent of Microsoft’s opponent.
• Consumer Electronics We won a record-setting jury verdict, and subsequent $300 million settlement in 2006, for Lexar in its dispute with Toshiba; that dispute was fought in the federal courts (patent), the state courts (trade secret and fiduciary duty), and the International Trade Commission (patent).
• Enterprise Software We defeated a $500 million claim for patent infringement against one of the world’s leading enterprise software companies, in March 2006.
• Medical Devices We won a patent jury trial for ArthroCare Corporation against a competing manufacturer of radio frequency-based arthroscopic devices, Smith & Nephew, Inc., in 2003.
• Networking and Internet Technologies In a June 2005 federal patent infringement jury trial in which StorageTek sought $3 billion in damages, we won a complete defense jury verdict of non-infringement and invalidity for Cisco Systems – a victory that the San Francisco Daily Journal labeled the “Defense Victory of the Year.”
• Semiconductors In a claim for $8.2 billion that accused virtually all of Intel’s microprocessors of patent infringement, we won summary judgment of non-infringement for Intel, which the Federal Circuit affirmed. The San Francisco Daily Journal called this victory the “Defense Victory of the Year” for 2000.

We are privileged to work with some of the world’s great companies, such as Apple, Applera, Applied Materials, Broadcom, Cisco, eBay, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel, Matsushita, Merck, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Network Appliance, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and Yahoo! -- companies that are leaders in their industries, many of whom are literally changing the ways we live and work.

Contributions to the Judicial System

Attorneys from Weil’s Patent Litigation Group are actively involved in many court-sponsored activities aimed at improving the patent system. Our knowledge of these key jurisdictions, as well as relevant regulatory agencies and commissions, is often a crucial factor in favorably resolving our clients’ patent disputes.

Federal Judicial Education and Federal Circuit Activities

• Regularly assist the Federal Judicial Center in speaking to Federal District and Magistrate Judges on various aspects of patent law and litigation
• Regularly participate in Court-sponsored Federal Circuit Bar Association activities for developing patent-specific rules and jury instructions
• Hold and have held officer positions in the Federal Circuit Bar Association, including as the current President
• Active in the work of The Sedona Conference to establish a set of “best practices” for the courts to facilitate claim construction in patent litigation
• Active in many of the Federal Circuit’s and the Supreme Court’s important cases, submitting amicus briefs in cases such as:
  • Festo Corporation v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., LTD., a/k/a SMC Corporation and SMC Pneumatics, Inc.
  • Eolas Technologies, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.
  • Knorr-Bremse Systeme Fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH v. Dana Corp.
  • Merck KGAA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd. and the Burnham Institute and Telios Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• Testified before Congress multiple times on patent reform

Northern District of California

• Serve on the Court-sponsored Committee that drafts the N.D. Cal.’s Model Patent Jury instructions
• Serve on the Court-sponsored Committee that drafts the N.D Cal.’s Patent Local Rules (which subsequently formed the basis for patent local rules in several other jurisdictions)

District of Delaware

• Advised the court on procedures for electronic discovery
• Serve on the IP Advisory Committee

Eastern District of Texas

• Serve on the Court-sponsored Committee that is revising the E.D. Texas’ model on Patent Local Rules for electronic discovery
• Chair the 2006 Bench/Bar Conference

Teaching at Law Schools

Our attorneys are regularly called upon to teach at law schools around the country. Attorneys from our group have taught or are teaching the following patent law and litigation semester classes or seminars:

• Patent Litigation at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
• Patent Litigation at Columbia Law School
• Patent Litigation at Rutgers School of Law
• IP Strategy for Technology Companies at Stanford Law School
• Introduction to Patent Litigation at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

In addition, our attorneys are regularly called on to give individual lectures or presentations on patent law subjects at law schools around the country.

Patent Litigation Training

The patent litigation training that our associates receive is second to none. In addition to the general Litigation Training Program, associates in Weil’s Patent Litigation Group participate in a comprehensive formal patent litigation training program that includes:

• An annual multi-day offsite trial training program during which associate teams handle a mock jury trial involving opening and closing statements and witness examinations.
• Monthly training sessions by partners in the Group on substantive and procedural aspects of patent litigation, on topics ranging from “Avoiding Traps in Expert Discovery” to “Effective Markman Presentations.”
• Monthly discussion groups at which associates present recent Federal Circuit or Supreme Court cases of particular interest followed by a group discussion of the case.

Beyond our formal training program, our associates benefit from day-to-day on-the-job training. They take on substantial responsibility early in their careers, including taking and defending depositions, arguing motions, and examining witnesses at trial.