Leading companies around the world look to Heller Ehrman’s depth of experience and breadth of resources in intellectual property litigation when they want to protect their most valuable intellectual property assets. We have an established reputation for high-caliber intellectual property litigation. We use our advocacy skills and technical competence to assist clients across a range of industries, including semiconductors, wireless, software, cryptography, networking, computers, secure digital payment, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical devices. Our clients include industry leaders such as Genentech, Maxim, Allergan, Texas Instruments, Merck KGaA, Yahoo!, Innogenetics, CA, SonoSite, IAC, Palm, Depomed, Apple, S.C. Johnson and Seagate.

Facts About Our Practice

• Comprised of more than 90 lawyers involved in IP litigation - including four members of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member and former chair of the Northern District of California’s Patent Rules Revision Committee, and five members recognized by Chambers USA for their IP and complex litigation capabilities.

• Possess courtroom experience in state and federal courts across the country, including all leading patent litigation districts, as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court, International Trade Commission, Court of International Trade and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

• Won 17 IP trials in the last five years, including a jury verdict for Texas Instruments and Stanford University in TI v. Globespan Virata of $112 million.  The $112 million verdict was named one of the “Top 10 IP Verdicts in 2006” by IP Law & Business.

• Successfully obtained a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision for Merck, which the National Law Journal called “the most significant patent infringement case to confront the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in a generation.”

• Represented Yahoo! Inc. in a patent litigation against Google.  Case resulted in a settlement of approximately $450 million in our client’s favor.

Our Capabilities

Patents

Our combination of our experienced trial lawyers and patent counsel produces consistently powerful and efficient litigation and trial teams, which have been successful in state and federal courts and at the U.S. International Trade Commission. Our litigators are supported by our in-house patent group.

Copyrights and Trademarks

We have coordinated and implemented anti-piracy and seizure efforts around the world for products ranging from blue jeans to computer software, from handbags to other luxury goods. We manage our global network to oppose or cancel marks, as well as to institute or defend litigation when necessary. We institute and defend opposition and cancellation actions before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and handle Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) arbitration proceedings for the resolution of domain name disputes.

Trade Secrets

We have experience representing a host of life sciences, electronics and software clients in issues ranging from the allegation of illicit payments in exchange for confidential information to the misappropriation of confidential financial information and the unauthorized use of technologies.

Intellectual Property Services

Our multidisciplinary team includes transactional attorneys, litigators, trademark attorneys, patent prosecutors and patent professionals. We counsel clients with respect to obtaining and protecting patents, trademarks and other intellectual property assets. We also have a reputation for high-quality litigation and trial work to defend those assets, and our attorneys have extensive experience litigating complex patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret cases. A significant part of our practice also involves counseling clients and negotiating transactions with respect to licensing and distribution of their products, technology and related intellectual property.