FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC—Law360 released its Practice Group of the Year awards, naming Finnegan as an “IP Group of the Year.” The awards honor the law firms behind the litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal industry in the past year. Some of Finnegan’s most notable matters included a Federal Circuit decision making it easier to amend patents in America Invents Act (AIA) reviews and a case combating counterfeit consumer electronics.
Finnegan secured a win for Aqua Products in Aqua Products, Inc. v. Matal, a game-changing case in which an en banc Federal Circuit ruled that petitioners challenging the validity of a patent in post-grant proceedings carry the burden of showing that proposed amendments are unpatentable. The impact of Aqua Products was felt immediately after the decision came down in October 2017. James Barney, lead counsel in the case, said, “In more than two dozen pending IPRs [inter partes reviews], the PTAB [Patent Trial and Appeal Board] has authorized supplemental briefing to address the impact of Aqua Products. It is too early to tell what effect the USPTO’s [U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s] new guidance will have on the ability of patent owners to amend claims during an IPR, but it is clear that Aqua Products is having major impact on the process.”
One of the firm’s biggest trademark cases of the year involved a win for LG Electronics. Finnegan obtained a $168 million award for LG in a case accusing 17 companies of selling counterfeit wireless headphones. The judge also granted the firm’s request for over $380,000 in attorneys’ fees. Mark Sommers served as lead counsel and described the approach for targeting the defendants in the case. He said, “Defendants must be very purposely identified and taken from all levels within the chain of distribution. We selected the slate of defendants in the case based on various metrics and patterns that were uncovered through exhaustive, months-long research and investigations. The result of the pre-suit due diligence was not only a newsworthy $168 million plus monetary recovery, but a measurable impact in the reduction of counterfeit LG headsets in the marketplace.”
The vast majority of Finnegan’s IP professionals have technical degrees, allowing them to handle cases involving virtually any industry. In addition to its strength in intellectual property law, Finnegan prides its success on being a home-grown firm. Finnegan’s current managing partner and chair both came to the firm while in law school, which speaks to its guiding principle of organic growth.
Contacts
Mark D. Sweet, Managing Partner
mark.sweet@finnegan.com
James B. Monroe, Chair
james.monroe@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, copyright, and trade secret law, including counseling, prosecution, licensing, and litigation. Finnegan also represents clients on IP issues related to 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.
