Not one to handle routine IP matters, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is sought by clients mired in high-stakes patent litigation. "Gibson Dunn," noted a rival when asked to name a competitor he'd rather not face in court. "It is a well-known litigator in high-profile cases," he added. IP group co-chair Wayne Barsky is representing a consortium of 10 companies that includes Electronic Arts in a patent infringement suit filed in the Northern District of California. Of Barsky, a one-time adversary noted: "He was so good, and did such a good job for his client, that I later hired him."
The firm secured a victory for Red Hat and Novell in the Eastern District of Texas against IP Innovation and Technology Licensing in the first patent litigation brought regarding open-source software. Other pending matters include representations for Amazon.com in a multidistrict suit against Discovery Communications; Novo Nordisk in an ANDA patent infringement suit against Caraco Laboratories; Merck-Serono against Pfizer, Bayer and Novartis Pharmaceuticals; and RealNetworks, Viacom, Napster and Amazon.com against Premier International Associates.