Finnegan and Two Partners Recognized in World IP Review’s Inaugural USA Patents Rankings

World IP Review (WIPR) released its inaugural edition of WIPR USA Patents rankings, recognizing Finnegan as a leading patent firm for contentious and non-contentious work and partners Cory Bell and Elizabeth Ferrill as premier patent attorneys in the United States. The contentious rankings spotlight firms and individuals who are exceptional litigators and masters of effectively representing clients in infringement and validity claims, while the non-contentious rankings highlight firms and individuals who excel at drafting and prosecuting patent applications and building blockbuster patent portfolios for their clients.

Cory Bell, leader of Finnegan’s PTAB trials section, focuses on post-grant practice, patent prosecution management, client counseling, and litigation with an emphasis on computer and electronic technologies. Since working on the first ever post-grant review of a covered business method patent, Cory has represented patent owners and petitioners in over 200 post-grant review and inter partes review trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and in related matters before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit. Cory’s litigation experience includes matters before U.S. district courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission. He has prepared non-infringement and invalidity contentions; managed fact discovery; worked with fact and expert witnesses to prepare declarations and expert reports; drafted claim construction and summary judgment briefs; and prepared presentations for technical tutorials and claim construction hearings. Cory also co-authored the American Bar Association’s The Practitioner’s Guide to Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and teaches a course he created on post-grant practice at the Suffolk University Law School.

Elizabeth Ferrill, co-leader of the firm’s litigation section, focuses her practice on all aspects of design patents, including prosecution, counseling, post-grant, litigation, and appeal. Elizabeth counsels clients who hold design patents as well as those accused of infringement. She has prosecuted families of design patents before the USPTO, directed prosecution in foreign countries, and argued appeals before the PTAB. Elizabeth litigates design patent matters at the U.S. district court level that include trade dress claims. She has also appeared before the ITC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Additionally, Elizabeth has extensive experience in utility patent litigation in the areas of software- and hardware-related technologies and counseling in trade secret matters, including selection of patent or trade secret protection for innovative ideas. She has argued at the Fourth Circuit, and is well-versed in discovery dispute resolution, preparing and taking expert and fact witness at trial, and settlement negotiations. Referred to as an “undisputed expert on design patents,” Elizabeth is also the Editor-in-Chief of Comparative Global Design Law, published by Bloomberg Law.

To view the entire inaugural edition of WIPR’s USA Patents Rankings, click here.