Intellectual Property Litigation

Sutherland’s Intellectual Property Group handles all areas of intellectual property litigation. We represent both plaintiffs and defendants in patent infringement, patent interference, and patent-related antitrust suits; trademark and trade dress infringement suits; trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings; copyright infringement suits; trade secret claims; federal and state unfair competition controversies; and false advertising and other Lanham Act claims. Our Intellectual Property Group consists of more than 30 attorneys, many of whom devote all or a significant amount of their time to intellectual property litigation. A significant number of Sutherland’s intellectual property lawyers hold specialized and advanced degrees in electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, molecular genetics, medicine and other scientific disciplines, and are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

When a dispute involves complex technology, our attorneys understand the subject matter and can explain it to a judge, jury, arbitrator or mediator. Our experienced trial attorneys have represented plaintiffs and defendants in more than 100 trials and legal proceedings in all forums – state, federal and foreign courts; arbitration and mediation inside and outside the United States; and administrative proceedings before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and international Patent Offices. Appeals from these cases have been heard in state and federal appellate courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, where we have won important rulings both affirming and reversing lower court decisions. Additionally, several Sutherland attorneys have filed numerous amicus briefs in U.S. Supreme Court cases.

Unlike many of our competitors, our experienced IP litigators and prosecutors work as a team to be sure they spot all potential invalidity and infringement scenarios efficiently and advocate them effectively. The stakes in most IP litigation are extremely high for both sides. In order to work as efficiently as possible, we staff our cases leanly, including using contract attorneys for certain tasks as needed, and appointing competent attorneys with lower rates to perform as much work as possible, given the relative importance of the particular case to the client and the client’s preferences.

We regularly handle multi-patent, multi-district disputes between industry competitors, and we understand that litigation is an important part of an overall competitive strategy. Internationally, we work with foreign counsel to coordinate patent litigation strategy among proceedings pending concurrently in U.S. and foreign venues. We also obtain discovery within the U.S. solely for use in foreign patent litigation and proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1782. We also oversee trademark litigation matters handled by foreign counsel, engaged by us all over the world on behalf of our clients. These matters are handled in court proceedings in countries from China to Germany to Uruguay and in administrative proceedings in foreign jurisdictions.