IP Trial Lawyer Jim Batchelder Joins Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray today announced that Jim Batchelder, one of the nation’s leading intellectual property trial lawyers, is joining the global law firm as a partner in the Silicon Valley office. Batchelder, 47, brings 22 years of experience representing technology companies in high-stakes, business-critical cases in the federal courts and the International Trade Commission.

Mr. Batchelder comes to Ropes & Gray from Howrey, where he was a member of the firm’s Senior IP Leadership Committee and task forces for medical device litigation and trade secrets litigation. He has represented some of the world’s leading technology companies on a full spectrum of issues, including patent infringement, antitrust, trade secrets and licensing disputes.

In addition to his trial work, Mr. Batchelder has experience with reexamination and interference proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

For many years, Mr. Batchelder has taught an annual class on IP strategy at the University of California Berkeley Law School. He also publishes and speaks regularly on IP issues. In the past six months, for example, he has published a chapter in a leading textbook on intellectual property strategy, published an article on recent developments in patent litigation, and given two lectures to the Association of Corporate Counsel on patent claim construction issues.

“I am thrilled to join the world-class IP litigation practice at Ropes & Gray,” said Mr. Batchelder. “The firm’s collaborative spirit, deep bench of experienced IP trial lawyers, and commitment to Silicon Valley companies provide the ideal platform for me in representing technology firms in their intellectual property disputes.”

“Having a strong presence in Silicon Valley has never been more important as courts are increasingly permitting tech companies to defend patent cases in their home venues,” said Mr. Batchelder.

Mr. Batchelder graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and Franklin and Marshall College.

Ropes & Gray, a leading global law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers and professionals, has been recognized as having one of the world’s leading IP litigation groups. With a team of more than 200 lawyers, 40 patent agents and technical advisors and 60 paralegals, Ropes & Gray advises industry innovators on their most challenging issues, anywhere in the world.

In June 2010, the firm won Chambers USA’s 2010 "Award for Excellence" as the leading practice in the United States for intellectual property, and The International Who's Who of Patent Lawyers has named five Ropes & Gray partners to its distinguished list for 2010. Two other surveys by Managing IP and Asia IP recently ranked Ropes & Gray’s IP practices among the best in the world. The firm was also ranked in the first tier nationally for intellectual property in the U.S. News-Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey released in September 2010.