Erik R. Puknys
Partner
- +1 650 849 6644
- erik.puknys@finnegan.com
- Stanford Research Park
- 3300 Hillview Avenue, 2nd Floor
- Palo Alto, CA 94304-1203
Erik Puknys' career in intellectual property began more than 25 years ago, when he joined the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office as a patent examiner.
Experience
Nuance Communications Inc,. v. Abbyy USA Software House Inc.
Lead counsel representing software manufacturer ABBYY, a Russian company (with a Silicon Valley subsidiary) that makes software for optical character recognition technology, and Lexmark International, a leading manufacturer of printers and scanners. The plaintiff, Nuance Communications, asserted eight patents against several different product lines, claiming damages in excess of $260 million. A jury found for ABBYY and Lexmark on all issues and the district court entered final judgment against Nuance. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment.
3:08-cv-02912, N.D. Cal., Judges Addy, Brazil, James, Vegas, White
14-1629, -1630, Fed. Cir., Judges Chen, Dyk, Prost
Innovative Therapies, Inc. v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc.
Lead counsel for Kinetic Concepts (KCI) on appeal. Argued the appeal from a district court judgment dismissing the case for lack of declaratory judgment jurisdiction. The Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment and dismissed the case.
09-1085, Fed. Cir., Judges Michel, Newman, Prost
Member of the team that obtained a unanimous decision from the Federal Circuit affirming a district court judgment of willful infringement and a damages award of approximately $290 million (the second largest patent damages award ever affirmed on appeal), and the entry of a permanent injunction against Microsoft's flagship Word software. The Federal Circuit also upheld the validity of the patent.
10-290, S. Ct., Judges Alito, Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan, Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Sotomayor, Thomas
09-1504, Fed. Cir., Judges Moore, Prost, Schall
Kinetic Concepts, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew
11-1105, Fed. Cir., Judges Bryson, Dyk, O'Malley
5:08-cv-00102, W.D. Tex., Judges Furgeson, Rodriguez
SanDisk v. Memorex Prods., Inc.
04-1422, Fed. Cir., Judges Dyk, Gajarsa, Rader
03-1625, -1626, Fed. Cir., Judges Prost, Clevenger, Gajarsa
Insights
Seminar
Pacific Business Briefing: IP Protection Trends in China and the United States
March 5, 2019
San Francisco
Professional Recognition
“One of its chief figures on the West Coast is Palo Alto-based Erik Puknys, a robust litigator who also leads the firm’s appellate division – which many consider to be the best in intellectual property in the country. With so much post-grant appeals activity going on right now, he and his group are in hot demand.”
“‘Erik Puknys is a really good guy,’ says a client. ‘He has phenomenal knowledge of case law; he’s very sharp on strategy. [He has] really good client skills [and is a] great guy.’”
“‘Erik Puknys is genuinely interested in your technology and in getting the right patent for your business. He really takes the time to understand what you are doing and then works his magic. Most would fail to get the intellectual property he gets granted and he is great at coming up with creative, effective arguments when you do get a claim rejected.”
“Erik Puknys flies the flag of celebrated boutique Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner in California. He leads the firm’s appellate practice, which is one of the best in the country.”
“Puknys leads the firm’s appellate practice, which is one of the best in the business.”
News
Press Release
IAM 2019 Patent 1000 Guide Continues to Rank Finnegan as a Top Tier IP Firm
June 24, 2019
Press Release
Managing Intellectual Property Recognizes 32 Finnegan Attorneys Worldwide as “IP Stars”
May 20, 2019
Managing Intellectual PropertyPress Release
IAM 2018 Patent 1000 Guide Recognizes Finnegan with Top Honors
June 8, 2018
Intellectual Asset ManagementPress Release
Managing Intellectual Property Names 34 Finnegan Attorneys as “IP Stars”
May 18, 2018
Managing Intellectual PropertyProfessional Activities
- Federal Circuit Bar Association
(vice-chair, Amicus Committee, 2017-present; chair, Model Jury Instructions Project, 2011-present; co-chair, Patent Litigation Committee, 2011-2017) - American Bar Association
Admissions
- California
- District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court, C.D. California
- U.S. District Court, E.D. California
- U.S. District Court, N.D. California
- U.S. District Court, S.D. California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Education
- George Mason University School of Law
- J.D., with high honors, 1997
- Vanderbilt University
- M.S., Materials Science, 1991
- Vanderbilt University
- B.E., Mechanical and Materials Engineering, 1989
Erik's Practices
- Patent Litigation
- Appeals
- Arbitration and Other ADR
- ITC Section 337
- Patent Trial
- Pre-Trial Strategy
- Post-Grant Proceedings
- Appeals of PTAB Trial Decisions
- IPR, PGR, and CBM
- Trade Secrets
Erik's Industries
- Chemical
- Clean Energy and Renewables
- Digital Health
- Electrical and Computer Technology
- Electronic Devices and Components
- Medical Device
- Nanotechnology
- Pharmaceutical
- Robotics
- Sports, Fitness, and Outdoor Recreation
