FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC—Finnegan secured several major victories in 2019, earning its place as Law360’s “IP Group of the Year.” The awards recognize the law firms behind major deals and litigation wins that resonated among the legal industry in the past year.
One of the firm’s most notable victories involved representing Combe Inc. in defending the VAGISIL trademark by blocking the registration of the “VAGISAN” mark. After Combe lost at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the firm was hired to launch an appeal in the Eastern District of Virginia. Douglas “Chip” Rettew, lead counsel on the case, said, “It's always difficult when you're taking a case from a loss. I think it really showcases our strategic acumen in trademark litigation. We were able to redo the case the way we thought it should have been redone.” He added, “We've had a real, real busy year and we're very proud that we're doing work for some of the biggest, most well-known brands. They come to us, really, with the hard cases. The cases we get are ones where people have already lost or they're particularly challenging, so we really take a lot of pride in that."
On the patent side, the firm represented Toyota Motor Corp in a case before both the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Intellectual Ventures accused Toyota and other automakers of importing motors that infringed several of its patents. Within one month, Finnegan quickly filed nine inter partes review petitions, a strategy that proved to be successful. Partners Josh Goldberg and Mareesa Frederick worked on the case. Mareesa said, “By implementing that strategy, we were able to have PTAB proceedings jump ahead of the ITC case and we were able to get rulings on claims being unpatentable before the commission ruled on the violation for the ITC proceedings.”
Despite the loss of Finnegan named partner and Federal Circuit icon Don Dunner in October 2019, the firm’s appellate practice continues to thrive. Mike Jakes, leader of the firm’s appellate section, said, “[Don] trained a lot of lawyers, me being one of them. We miss Don, but our appellate practice is really very strong." More than 35 attorneys have argued IP cases at the Federal Circuit, and the firm has more than 40 former Federal Circuit clerks in its ranks. Finnegan represented Sprint Communications in a case against Time Warner Cable. The Federal Circuit upheld a $140 million verdict, ruling that Time Warner infringed five of Sprint’s Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) patents. The full court also denied Time Warner’s petition for rehearing en banc.
Contacts
Anand K. Sharma, Managing Partner
anand.sharma@finnegan.com
Mark D. Sweet, Chair
mark.sweet@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, Palo Alto, Reston, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, and Washington, DC, the firm practices all aspects of patent, trademark, and copyright, 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. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
