Foley & Lardner

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Rankings

Editorial coverage

A dominant presence in the Midwest, Foley & Lardner placed solidly across the rankings. Commentators said the firm distinguishes itself from other large multinational firms by building a strong prosecution practice. "Foley has been handling patent prosecution for many, many years, even before it was popular," said a lawyer. "It treats it with more importance than average general firms." The firm lost 56 IP attorneys last year, though only shrunk slightly with the hire of 23 lawyers to the IP group. The firm secured a victory in a 12-year case for Takeda Pharmaceuticals in one of two recent double-patenting cases where the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favour of the patent owner.

IP group chair Matthew Lowrie was commended by a client for his "excellent strategic thinking and his ability to act in court". Specialising in patent litigation, Aaron Moore has a "perfect understanding of the issues" and an "ability to oversee a complex case in all aspects and details". Kevin Littman focuses on medical devices, computer software and consumer products, and, said one client, has a "quick understanding and efficient way of handling the experts in our ITC case". Patent attorneys Harold Wegner, Mike Kaminski and Steve Maebius also earned nods from a client. "They have been working for us for many years, so it is easy for us to believe in them," the client said.

Japan

The addition of Etsuo Doi to the team was an important development, but Foley & Lardner's claim to fame was in fact its victory on the defence of a 12 year ex-parte reexamination proceeding involving the patent of a fundamental key compound related to antibiotics. The reexamination of Takeda Pharmaceutical's patents were originally filed in 1998 and appealed in 2006, marking this case as the longest reexamination in history where all patent claims were confirmed. "We have worked with them for more than three decades," explains one pharmaceutical company manager. "Trust is well established."

Partners Stephen Maebius, Harold Wegner and Edward Polk were responsible for arguing the case to the Court of Appeals and received a decision that represents one of only two recent cases where the patent owner won on the issue of double patenting. "Wegner and Doi are great," says an IP rights acquisition client. "They gave us legal advice in a very professional and cost effective manner." Other long standing clients in Foley's list are of the electronics variety, including internet companies Paypal and Skype, who seek the firm on inbound IP work. In addition, practitioners John Feldhaus and Pavan Agarwal continue to represent Toshiba in numerous US patent litigation related to their line of portable computers defending against plaintiffs include Wi-LAN, Xpoint, NorthPeak, and Microlinc.