IP Group of the Year: Finnegan

Law360 again honored Finnegan as a top intellectual property group on its list of the 2013 Practice Groups of the Year, highlighting Finnegan’s groundbreaking work before the PTAB and diverse litigation wins across many areas of IP law and a range of technologies. The annual awards recognize firms that “excelled at getting the job done for clients in litigation and deals” across 27 practice areas from Nov. 1, 2012 to Nov. 1, 2013.

“The SAP case, which helped blaze new trails in a closely watched area of patent law, garnered significant attention last year for Finnegan.” The favorable ruling issued in June was the very first in new patent challenge proceedings instituted under the America Invents Act. It was “uncharted territory, which makes it quite challenging,” said Finnegan managing partner James B. Monroe. “We were able to combine our deep bench of patent office expertise with our litigation expertise.”

Before the Fourth Circuit, Finnegan successfully represented Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. in a case which “established that copyright can be transferred electronically.” Monroe explained the ruling will make it easier to register copyrights on databases and will have a significant impact on copyright practice. Finnegan also earned a litigation victory for pharmaceutical maker AbbVie, and defended software company ABBYY in a suit involving patent and trade dress infringement claims. “It’s been an exciting year,” Monroe said.