Intellectual Property

Cases

• Won a $39 million plaintiff's jury verdict as co-trial counsel for Allergan and Duke University after a five-day patent infringement trial in federal court in Colorado.
• Won an appeal in the 10th Circuit for two mortgage brokers in a noncompete case against a leading financial institution, affirming a district court's prior denial of preliminary injunction. The plaintiffs had alleged that their former employees—WTO's clients—had breached noncompete and trade secret agreements when they left the company.
• Obtained relief for a nonprofit organ recovery and transplantation company in a trademark dispute against a hospital technology software company. The infringer changed its name as a result of WTO's efforts. Claims included trademark infringement, false designation or origin, passing off, and false advertising.
• Won a preliminary injunction for a national fitness franchisor against three competing fitness and nutrition studios that had stolen our client's trade secrets, infringed on its trademarks, committed fraud, and breached non-compete obligations.
• Represented a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company that sued a competitor for trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, and false advertising, resulting in a favorable settlement for our client.
• Obtained a temporary restraining order for a national bank in a case involving a departing employee who stole trade secrets and breached fiduciary duty.
• Represented an industry leading inter-dealer broker in a multimillion-dollar dispute alleging corporate raiding and misappropriation of trade secrets.
• Successfully represented a leading regional healthcare network as lead trial counsel in a high-stakes trademark dispute against a national healthcare insurance provider.
• Won a directed verdict in a trade secrets trial for an oil and gas company. The plaintiff claimed theft of its technical geological data that allegedly had allowed the defendant to improperly acquire several hundred thousand acres of oil and gas leases in northeastern Nevada. The plaintiff's expert opined that the misappropriation of the trade secrets had caused more than $1 billion dollars in damages.
• Won reversal of a TRO that had been issued ex parte at the close of business on a Friday, effectively shutting down operations for a major manufacturing and distribution client, and subsequently won rejection of the injunction against WTO's client.
• Represented a private equity company and three individuals involved in the distressed debt industry in a case asserting a multimillion-dollar damage award for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets. The three-year litigation was complex and contentious, involving claims asserting substantial trade secret violations, as well as fiduciary duty, contract, and other tort claims.
• Represented the patent holder of an antidepressant in a multistate class action raising antitrust and consumer protection claims.
• Advised a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer on expected issues in anticipation of follow-on litigation relating to a trade secrets dispute.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction following a full-day evidentiary hearing in a Colorado district court for a large Ohio-based commercial painting company in a case involving trade secrets and a noncompete agreement.
• Represented plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of increasing copyright protection by 20 years and Section 514 of Uruguay Round Agreements Act extending copyright protection to foreign works. The United States Supreme Court ruled the statutes were constitutional.
• Won an injunction for Newark Paper Products following a three-week trial asserting that Sonoco and its employee had misappropriated trade secrets from Newark.
• Handled patent infringement litigation in cases involving a wide range of products such as video-synchronizing software, voicemail and voice compression technology, antivirus software, data storage technology, data flow algorithms, internet purchase software, blood testing methodologies, blood gas measuring devices, batteries, cochlear implants, polymers, automotive equipment, ski boots, medical syringes, vitamins, and pharmaceuticals.
• Successfully handled the appeal of a trademark infringement case in which the trial court had found willful infringement and awarded attorneys' fees. The appellate court affirmed the decision of the trial court.
• Successfully defended a leading global developer of implantable, high-technology neurostimulation devices used in the treatment of deafness and chronic pain, in a preliminary injunction hearing when its main competitor claimed that our client had stolen trade secrets and improperly hired the competitor's former employees. Following denial of the competitor's motion for preliminary injunction filed in a Colorado district court, we defeated seven separate appeals to the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court.
• Successfully represented a major telecommunications company in numerous temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction proceedings involving interruption of service and other business and trade secret claims. Two cases that settled favorably for our client involved the protection of trade secrets related to the hiring of top level executives who were formerly with our client's largest competitor.