Finnegan Earns Law360’s Practice Group of the Year for Intellectual Property

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC—Law360 once again named Finnegan 2022 Intellectual Property Practice Group of the Year. The publication sought to honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year. Some of Finnegan’s most notable matters include its victory for client Maglula against Amazon; its complete win for AstraZeneca against Zydus Pharmaceutical; CSRC’s vindication against Genzyme in a significant IP licensing dispute; Playtika’s across-the-board victory against NEXRF; and Finnegan’s successful representation of BMW against Arigna.

In a David vs. Goliath case, Finnegan represented Maglula, Ltd. in a one-of-a-kind district court litigation, including trademark, copyright, and patent claims over Amazon’s sale of alleged counterfeit consumer products. Amazon had long eluded secondary liability for selling counterfeit products because of outdated case law and stalled legislation. The Eastern District of Virginia ruled for Maglula across-the-board on summary judgment, finding “the evidence of unlawful counterfeiting…overwhelming.” The parties were then ordered to mediate, which ultimately resulted in a settlement and dismissal of the case. Maglula’s success is a big step forward for the protection of brand owners and consumers from counterfeits sold through online platforms like Amazon.

Another highlight of 2022 was securing a favorable ITC ruling rebuffing an ITC complaint by Arigna aiming to ban the importation and sale of  innovative mild-hybrid, hybrid, and all-electric SUVs and other vehicles. Arigna accused BMW, Volkswagen, and several other automotive companies of violating Section 337 by importing vehicles containing power inverters and converters that themselves included semiconductor devices that allegedly infringed two patents. The high-stakes allegations, which threatened the importation of several fuel-efficient vehicles during an automobile and semiconductors shortages, would have harmed the automakers’ significant domestic manufacturing efforts. Arigna was forced to drop its claims against BMW regarding one of the asserted patents once Finnegan proved that the accused devices were not used in BMW vehicles at all. Regarding Arigna’s second asserted patent, Finnegan—in coordination with other respondents—explained BMW’s noninfringement and invalidity defenses to the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) during a five-day trial. The ALJ agreed with BMW’s positions and issued an initial determination finding no violation of Section 337 and that all asserted claims asserted were invalid and noninfringed. The final determination was a remarkable Finnegan victory for the client.

Finnegan handles bet-the-business patent cases alongside sophisticated copyright, trademark, advertising, and trade secret litigation. Approximately 65% of our attorneys spend more than half their time on litigation-focused matters and 90% worked on litigation matters in the survey timeframe. Furthermore, our sector-related expertise stands out: 86% of our professionals have technical degrees.

Contacts

Erika Arner, Managing Partner
erika.arner@finnegan.com

Anand K. Sharma, Chair
anand.sharma@finnegan.com

About Finnegan

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP is one of the largest IP law firms in the world. From offices in Atlanta, Boston, London, Munich, Palo Alto, Reston, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, and Washington, DC, the firm practices all aspects of patent, trademark, and copyright law, including counseling, prosecution, licensing, and litigation. Finnegan also represents clients on IP issues related to advertising, trade secret law, European patents and trade marks, international trade, portfolio management, the Internet, e-commerce, government contracts, antitrust, and unfair competition. For additional information on the firm, please visit www.finnegan.com and follow us on LinkedIn.