DLA Piper Expands IP Litigation Capabilities, Adding Premier Litigation, Counseling and Prosecution Team in Los Angeles
Distinguished Group Led By Richard de Bodo, Former Hogan Lovells’
Intellectual Property Practice Area Leader; Brings Significant
Life Sciences, Electronics, Internet, Hatch-Waxman, and Biologics Litigation Capabilities
Los Angeles) August 23, 2010 – DLA Piper today announced that six former Hogan Lovells US LLP attorneys, led by prominent IP attorney and former practice area leader of Hogan’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, Richard de Bodo, will join the firm’s Intellectual Property and Technology practice as partners in the Los Angeles office.
De Bodo will be joined by former Hogan attorneys Siegmund Gutman, Robert Benson, Christopher Broderick, Troy Schmelzer, and Lawrence McClure. The partners are recognized leaders in the field and the group is a significant and strategically important addition to DLA Piper’s Intellectual Property and Technology, Patent Litigation and Patent Prosecution practices. They add technical depth and experience to the firm’s electronics, life sciences, pharmaceutical, chemistry, biologics, and Internet practices, and also bring significant knowledge and experience in litigating and trying Hatch-Waxman and biologics cases, representing Japanese electronics and pharmaceutical companies, and representing Internet companies. With strong practices stretching into the Asia-Pacific region, their client relationships are global.
“We continue to invest in building a leading global patent litigation practice. Rich and his team’s significant work in high-end intellectual property litigation and counseling matters will be integral in achieving that goal as well as advancing the depth and reach of our capabilities in the Los Angeles region,” said J. Terence O’Malley, DLA Piper US Managing Partner. “Our ability to deliver intellectual property protection all around the world will provide a significant benefit to this group’s US-based clients, and our leading US technology practice will be a tremendous asset to assist the group in their representation of leading Japanese electronics and other international technology clients.”
“The addition of these partners is a significant step in advancing our strategy and commitment to the continued growth of our top-rated global Intellectual Property and Technology practice. Rich and his colleagues bring sophisticated intellectual property litigation, counseling and prosecution capabilities with particularly extensive global experience in the pharmaceutical, high technology electronics, imaging and Internet space,” said John Allcock, Global Co-Chair of DLA Piper’s Intellectual Property and Technology practice. “They will be integral to the regional, national, and international growth of the firm’s Patent Litigation practice.”
De Bodo, who is also the former leader of Hogan’s West Coast Intellectual Property practice group, has long been widely recognized as a creative and innovative trial lawyer and an effective and practical problem solver. He litigates and tries patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property cases before trial courts, appellate courts, arbitration panels, and the International Trade Commission (ITC) for clients in the United States, Asia and Europe.
Some recent high-profile accomplishments by de Bodo and his team include:
• Summary judgment and Federal Circuit victory for Dow Jones in a high-stakes patent case involving Internet search technology
• Hatch-Waxman patent litigation victory for Abraxis BioScience and APP Pharmaceuticals involving the company’s best-selling drug
• Hatch-Waxman patent litigation trial and Federal Circuit victories on behalf of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. in a case involving a billion-dollar drug
“DLA Piper’s top-quality IP and technology team of lawyers, its long tradition of successfully litigating and trying patent cases, its West Coast strength coupled with unparalleled global resources, and its compelling vision and strong management provide tremendous opportunities for Siegmund, Robert, Chris, Troy, Lawrence, and me and our clients,” said de Bodo. “We’re extremely excited to be joining DLA Piper.”
About the New Partners
Richard de Bodo litigates and tries patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property cases before trial courts, appellate courts, arbitration panels and the ITC. He has litigated numerous cases for leading technology companies in the United States, Asia and Europe involving computer hardware and software, consumer electronics, Internet technology, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, broadband communications, digital cameras, semiconductors and other technologies. His active life sciences practice includes multiple significant patent litigation matters over the last three years for Affymax, APP Pharmaceuticals, Abraxis BioScience, Takeda, Olympus, and other pharmaceutical companies. Among the many recognitions he has garnered, de Bodo has been named in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for his work in the fields of Intellectual Property: Patent and Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation. He has also been cited by Legal 500, The Best Lawyers in America, and numerous other publications.
De Bodo earned a B.A. and a J.D. from Harvard. He is admitted to practice in California, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania and before the Ninth Circuit, Federal Circuit and the US Supreme Court.
Siegmund Gutman combines a strong technical background in molecular and cell biology and chemistry with extensive experience in patent litigation. His litigation experience includes participation in all facets of pre-litigation analysis, discovery, pre-trial preparation and trial. Earlier in his career, he was Senior Counsel for Patent Litigation at Amgen Inc., the world’s largest biotechnology company, where he led several patent litigation teams and developed and executed various market exclusivity and freedom-to-operate strategies. While at Hogan, he represented Amgen in a significant patent case against Ariad Pharmaceuticals.
Gutman received a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law, an M.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A., with honors, from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Robert Benson focuses his practice on patent litigation for high-profile clients. He has represented numerous clients in the United States and Asia in a wide range of cases alleging patent infringement, copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation, involving technologies and products including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, consumer electronics and other physical devices.
He has extensive experience in the international aspects of patent litigation which frequently arise in the context of foreign manufacturing, communications and the Internet.
Benson is the founder and president of Arms of Love International, a charity that establishes and operates children’s homes in less developed countries around the world. Arms of Love has cared for more than 100 orphaned and abandoned children in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
He received a J.D., Order of the Coif, from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in Aeronautics from San Jose State University, where he was a President’s Scholar.
Christopher Broderick practices in all aspects of intellectual property law with an emphasis on litigation, representing plaintiffs and defendants in patent, trademark, unfair competition and trade secret actions, from discovery through trial. His clients have been involved in a variety of industries and technologies, including semiconductors, software patents, Internet business patents, wireless and satellite communications, rapid prototyping and consumer products. He also has substantial international experience, including international arbitrations and administrating a worldwide trademark enforcement program, and has also practiced extensively in the Eastern District of Texas. His clients have included Panasonic, JVC, NewsCorp, Dow Jones, and MySpace.
Broderick received a J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati.
Troy Schmelzer concentrates on US patent prosecution, international patent portfolio management and strategic counseling, with experience in a wide array of electrical, computer and communications technologies, particularly focusing on wireless communications systems.
He received a J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Lawrence McClure focuses his practice on patent prosecution and assisting in the litigation of patent disputes. He is experienced in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in various technological areas, including chemicals, materials, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor technology, and biotechnology. He also has experience in all phases of litigation in state and federal courts, including arbitration and trial.
McClure received a J.D., cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California and a B.S. in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from Clemson University.
About the Intellectual Property and Technology Practice
DLA Piper’s Intellectual Property and Technology practice offers clients comprehensive IP services, including patent, trademark, copyright litigation, patent prosecution, IP due diligence and strategic IP asset management. The firm has nearly 400 IP attorneys in 48 cities and 22 countries which ranks the group among the largest IP practices in the world. DLA Piper’s Patent Litigation practice in the US alone includes more than 80 lawyers.
About DLA Piper (www.dlapiper.com)
DLA Piper has 3,500 attorneys in 30 countries and 69 offices throughout the US, UK, Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising.
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