Fish & Richardson named top patent litigation firm

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For a second straight year, IP Worldwide magazine has named Fish & Richardson the top patent litigation firm in the country. In a survey published in its May 2002 issue, IP Worldwide found that Fish & Richardson handles more patent litigation than any other firm. The survey ranks firms by the number of patent cases that they brought and the number of cases that they defended in 2001. Last year, Fish & Richardson was involved in 70 new patent cases - the firm filed 30 new patent infringement cases and entered appearances defending 40 other new patent infringement cases. The survey found Fish & Richardson’s lead in patent litigation to be significant; the firm beat the second place finisher by a margin of 30%.

The article calls Fish & Richardson an “IP powerhouse” with “the bench and trial skills to handle bet-the-company cases.”

“We are pleased to have been acknowledged as the leader in this area for a second straight year,” said Peter Devlin, the firm’s President and a principal in the Boston office. “The numbers show that we are the go-to firm for patent litigation.”

IP Worldwide, which is published by American Lawyer Media, is a monthly publication written for the intellectual property community.

Fish & Richardson was also identified as the top patent litigation firm in last year’s IP Worldwide survey which examined patent cases filed during the year 2000. That survey found that Fish & Richardson was involved in 40 patent cases - the firm filed 20 cases and entered appearances defending an additional 20 cases.

The IP Worldwide survey did not count new patent infringement cases filed with the International Trade Commission (ITC), an agency that has become a prime venue for major patent disputes. Fish & Richardson is the most active firm in ITC patent cases. Fish & Richardson entered appearances in 5 of the 18 new ITC cases filed during 2001, or 28% of the new ITC cases filed. No other firm handles as many ITC cases.

Fish & Richardson is very active in those federal courts that are known to be the top venues for patent cases. Fish & Richardson is handling 22 new cases in the District of Delaware, regarded as one of the nation’s premier trial courts for the resolution of major patent disputes. Fish & Richardson opened an office Wilmington, Delaware in 1999 to better serve our active Delaware docket.

Fish & Richardson’s other busiest venues are also among the busiest for patent infringement disputes: Massachusetts, the Northern District of California, and Minnesota. Fish & Richardson’s eight offices include offices near each of these federal district courts.

Fish & Richardson is a national law firm with over 250 lawyers in eight offices; 125 are litigators. Through our eight offices, we can deliver the benefits of our nationwide experience, and familiarity with local courts and practices. Our substantial trial experience enables us to present complex technology issues in a form that a lay judge or jury can understand.

Our trial skills are enriched by our broad and deep technical patent expertise, an expertise that sets us apart from general practice firms. The firm has successfully litigated patents owned by large and small corporations in virtually every industry and technology area.

Building on our excellent track record in patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret litigation, we have expanded our litigation practice to include lawyers with jury trial experience in a wide range of commercial cases, including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, white collar criminal defense, antitrust, unfair competition, employment, qui tam, and class action cases. We have substantial experience in internal corporate and government investigations.

Fish & Richardson’s patent prosecution practice posted some equally impressive numbers for 2001; the firm obtained almost 1,400 patents for its clients and filed over 4,000 new patent applications. On the trademark side, Fish & Richardson obtained about 300 registered trademarks its clients and filed over 600 new trademark applications.