IP Overview

Appellate Litigation

Attorneys

Related Practices Alternative Dispute Resolution Appellate Litigation International Licensing & Licensing Programs Patent Litigation Patent Prosecution & Applications Portfolio Evaluation and Management PTO: Interferences Trade Secrets & Unfair Competition Litigation Trademark & Copyright Litigation Trademarks, Copyright, Prosecution, & Licensing Transactional Counseling

Industries Served Biotechnology Chemical Consumer Products & Services Electronics, Computers & Software Financial Services Internet & e-Commerce Materials Science Mechanical Engineering Medical Devices Nanotechnology Pharmaceutical Semiconductor Processing & Devices Telecommunications Transportation

The Intellectual Property Group of Ropes & Gray has a long and distinguished history of appellate advocacy.  Our lawyers have successfully represented clients before numerous United States federal appellate courts.

We have an active practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears appeals in patent cases from a variety of tribunals from around the country, including the PTO and U.S. District Courts.  Our lawyers have been involved in more than 100 appeals before that court. Many of the appeals the Intellectual Property Group handles come from cases its lawyers successfully handled in the lower tribunal.  However, the firm is also often brought in to take appeals from cases handled by others.

Matters

• Bacardi & Co. v. Cubaexport, (T.T.A.B. 2004), where the PTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board rejected attempts by Bacardi & Company to cancel Cubaexport’s trademark registration of its HAVANA CLUB trademark for rum.
   
• Noelle v. Lederman, No. 02-1187 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 20, 2004), where the court upheld the PTO’s anticipation determination in an interference because Noelle’s description of a mouse antigen in his earlier application did not provide support for broad claims to the genus and human antibodies in his later application.
    
• Symbol Technologies, Inc. v. Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation, 277 F.3d 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2002), where the court held that the equitable doctrine of laches could be applied to bar enforcement of patent claims that issued after an unreasonable delay in prosecution.
    
• Purdue Pharma LP v. Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, 237 F.3d 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2001), where the court affirmed the entry of a preliminary injunction in a case involving controlled-release oxycodone-based medications for the treatment of pain.
    
• Forest Laboratories, Inc. v. Abbott Laboratories., 239 F.3d 1305 (Fed. Cir. 2001), where the court affirmed the district court decision overturning a jury verdict because the jury’s verdict of infringement was not supported by substantial evidence.

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