Fish & Richardson Named 2019 "Intellectual Property Firm of the Year" in the U.S. by Benchmark Litigation; Wins "National Impact Case"

Fish & Richardson has been named the 2019 "Intellectual Property (IP) Firm of the Year" in the U.S. by Benchmark Litigation. Fish principal Frank Scherkenbach was named "IP Attorney of the Year" in the U.S. and principal Juanita Brooks was named "California IP Litigation Attorney of the Year." Fish's win in Gilead Sciences, Inc. v. Merck & Co. Inc. et al. was honored as the "National Impact Case" of the year.

Fish earned the "IP Firm of the Year" award by dominating in every venue - in district court, at the International Trade Commission (ITC), at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board - scoring more high-profile IP wins across the board than any other firm. In 2018, Fish won two cases for client Gilead Sciences, Inc. involving the company's blockbuster drugs, Sovaldi^®and Harvoni^®, which cure hepatitis C and are considered among the greatest medical innovations of our lifetimes.

In Idenix Pharmaceuticals LLC et al. v. Gilead Sciences, Inc., Fish reversed a $2.5 billion willful infringement jury verdict - the largest patent damages award in history - against Gilead after proving that Idenix's patent was invalid due to lack of enablement. In Gilead Sciences, Inc. v. Merck & Co. Inc. et al.- the "National Impact Case" of the year - Fish won a unanimous Federal Circuit opinion that affirmed its post-trial vacatur of a $200 million jury verdict against Gilead after proving Merck's litigation and business misconduct constituting unclean hands. The Federal Circuit also affirmed $14 million in attorneys' fees awarded to Gilead, and in January 2019 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari, bringing this case to a close.

Brooks, who is one of the nation's top trial lawyers specializing in complex IP, product liability and mass tort litigation, won the "California IP Litigation Attorney of the Year" for leading Gilead's high-stakes Merck litigation.

Fish had numerous ITC victories in 2018 including a win for Macronix International, a leading integrated device manufacturer in the non-volatile memory market, against Toshiba Corp. and its subsidiaries. In this case, Fish obtained a rare reversal of an administrative law judge's initial determination of no violation and secured an exclusion order, while making new law relaxing the domestic industry requirement.

Scherkenbach, who has been called "one of the 50 greatest litigators in the country," was named the "IP Attorney of the Year" in the U.S. for his impressive 2018 wins in district court, at the Federal Circuit and at the ITC for clients Microsoft, Power Integrations and Aspen Aerogels.