"When we need someone to really dig in and fight a good fight, we typically turn to Lerner David." This comment by the counsel for a Fortune 100 company reflects our firm's attention to detail in litigation and our firm's aim to achieve the business goals which gave rise to litigation in as efficient a manner as possible. We do not believe in fighting litigation battles merely because the battles can be won. Rather, our goal is to achieve victory in the business issue that gave rise to the litigation. In so doing, we relentlessly pursue the facts needed to establish our winning position without distraction of issues that do not bear on ultimate victory. This approach, combined with our litigation strategy deeply rooted in our clients' business goals have often enabled us to achieve the goals of litigation without trial. However, when trial is appropriate, we have an admirable winning record. Because of our understanding of technology and our experience in intellectual property procurement, we are able to explain the most sophisticated matters in a common sense way that allows the issues to be understood and our clients' positions embraced by a jury.
Our specific skills in the various areas of intellectual property litigation are outlined below.
Patent, trade secret and "ANDA" litigation
Our expertise in patent litigation is unsurpassed. We have successfully represented the largest corporations in the world in assertion of and defense of their patent portfolios. Indeed, our firm was lead counsel for one of the parties in one of the largest patent infringement actions ever brought in the United States. However, our expertise is not limited to the representation of large corporations. We are also known for representing small corporations and individual inventors in the assertion of their patent rights against third parties. In all these cases, we bring an efficient and goal oriented approach to litigation. Through our depth of technological understanding and our experience with courtroom practice in the United States and throughout the world, we effectively achieve our clients' goals. Because we are intimately familiar with every nuance of obtaining patents in the United States and throughout the world, we are able to bring this expertise to bear on effective assertion of patent rights and defense against patent rights.
Our ANDA practice is world renowned and we represent drug manufacturers from all over the world in the effective filing of ANDA applications and the defense of such applications against assertions of infringement. In this regard, our courtroom efforts have met with resounding success and have resulted in highly commercially favorable outcomes for our clients.
trademark, trade dress and domain name litigation
Trademark and trade dress litigations are often won or lost at the very beginning of the litigation process. Emergency motions and hearings for temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and for orders to show cause are commonplace. These proceedings are quite different from trials, but are often determinative of whether or not a case can be resolved favorably for our clients. We have extensive experience around the country and the world representing our clients both in assertion of our clients' rights and the defense of our clients against assertions by others. We also have considerable experience representing both intellectual property rights holders and accused infringers in the field of grey market goods and in counterfeit products. In this regard, we have assisted our clients in effective use of anti-counterfeiting laws through the use of seizure procedures in association with U.S. Marshalls and emergency court actions to stop counterfeiters and seize counterfeit goods. In the area of domain name litigation we have effectively employed and defended against the type of emergency motion and hearing procedures we have previously described and used the Uniform Dispute Resolution Proceeding process for our clients' benefit. In all these instances, understanding the dynamics of emergency motion practice and the unique rules that apply to same are a critical advantage that our firm routinely uses to achieve success.
False advertising and unfair trade practices litigation
Our comprehensive knowledge of intellectual property laws enables us to pursue the best tactical avenue for our clients' success. We are in a unique position to achieve success because we know what can be properly protected by intellectual property rights and what cannot be properly protected. We leverage this knowledge effectively by conveying in a courtroom whether or not a particular asset has been wrongfully appropriated or whether a client's or a client's competitor's actions are unlawful. As always, we take the business realities of our clients into account and our depth of technological understanding allows us to comprehend subtleties, especially in trade secret cases, that escape many other firms.
licensing litigation
Licensing disputes are resolved commonly by arbitration as well as by litigation. In either venue, our firm's extensive experience brings to bear practical business consideration in advocating our client's position. The consequence is that our client's position is understood not only from a purely legal perspective but also from a common sense business perspective that crystallizes our clients' positions to judge, jury, or arbitrator. We have consistently found that our clients enormously benefit from this approach as evidenced by our many successes.
copyright litigation
Copyright litigation, like trademark litigation, is often marked by emergency motions brought by intellectual property rights holders. We have extensive experience in representing copyright holders and those accused of copyright infringement in such emergency proceedings. Unlike trademarks, the dynamics of copyrights litigation are often marked by the statutory damages that a copyright registrant may obtain and by the general rule, unlike other forms of intellectual property protection in the U.S., that the prevailing party in a copyright case is entitled compensation for its attorney's fees. We bring a full understanding of the synergism that these issues present in copyrights cases with the result that we are able to achieve considerable success.
