King & Spalding’s antitrust lawyers provide sophisticated, solution oriented advice to companies operating at the convergence of antitrust and intellectual property law. Whether counseling standard-setting organizations, litigating antitrust counterclaims in patent-infringement cases, managing government investigations, or negotiating pharmaceutical patent-infringement settlements with generic competitors, our antitrust and intellectual property expertise is unparalled. In fact, a 2006 Corporate Counsel annual survey of “Who Represents America’s Biggest Companies?” ranked King & Spalding among the top five firms for intellectual property and litigation.
Recognized by Chambers USA as “a sharp, practical, business-oriented group” who provide “a great mix of theory and practicality,” our antitrust lawyers work with a team of intellectual-property practitioners who hold advanced degrees in a variety of related fields such as biochemistry, pharmacology, chemical engineering, immunology, genetics, cell biology, computer science and mechanical engineering, to offer clients the excellence they require in this crucial and fast-moving area.
Our antitrust lawyers advise clients on the complex interplay between the antitrust laws and the defense of their intellectual property, working with them to reach strategic licensing and enforcement decisions that make efficient use of their intellectual property without risking antitrust exposure, and to manage the antitrust risks that attend mergers and asset acquisitions involving intellectual property. Our lawyers counsel clients and represent them before government agencies, including the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and International Trade Commission, and in federal court litigation in a variety of antitrust/intellectual property investigations and disputes.
Our success has been conspicuous. The American Lawyer and The Best Lawyers in America, among others, have singled us out for the consistently comprehensive antitrust counsel that we provide our clients.
The clients for whom we have provided intellectual property-related antitrust counsel include The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Inc.; Kemira Oyj and Kemira Chemicals Inc.; MillerCoors LLC; UCB S.A.; ConorMed Systems, Inc.; Becton, Dickinson and Company. These companies, and a host of others, have benefited from King & Spalding’s depth and breadth of experience in the antitrust intellectual property convergence.
A Wealth Of Government Experience
Our team of antitrust lawyers include several who have served in significant positions within the U.S. antitrust enforcement agencies, including the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice; a former senior advisor to the Federal Trade Commission; the former deputy assistant secretary for Import Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce; a former official with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; and 37 former clerks for U.S. Federal Circuit judges.
In addition, we regularly appear before the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and other key competition authorities including State Attorneys General and the European Commission. This first-hand experience and understanding of how enforcement agencies work helps us obtain favorable results for many of our clients by resolving disputes before trial and sometimes, even before an investigation is announced. There is just no substitute for this level of invaluable insight.
Avoiding Litigation Where Possible
Our IP and antitrust team counsels standard-setting organizations like the American National Standards Institute, Advanced Television Standards Committee and The National Cable Television Association on the interplay of antitrust and intellectual property issues. In the last 10 years, our team has settled over 170 IP and antitrust cases favorably before trial, and resolved over 60 disputes through arbitration, mediation or administrative proceedings.
Unparalleled Experience at Trial and in Administrative Proceedings
When litigation is unavoidable, King & Spalding helps clients win. With over 30 federal cases decided on summary judgment, 45 tried to verdict and over 30 appeals, including one to the U.S. Supreme Court, our team of IP and antitrust trial lawyers has developed a rare depth of courtroom and appellate expertise that clients value. Most recently, our lawyers have:
- Defended sanofi-aventis, a Paris-based international pharmaceutical company, against claims arising from its proposed settlement of patent litigation with a generic pharmaceutical company. Sanofi faced private civil claims from both individuals and plaintiff classes, and investigations by the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General’s Office;
- Represented Scientific Atlanta in a series of suits involving patent and antitrust claims relating to interactive television program guides and their importation in digital set-top boxes, in both federal court and before the International Trade Commission (ITC);
- Defended a leader in the emerging field of digital watermarking, against antitrust counterclaims filed in response to a patent infringement suit brought against Verance; and
- Defended standard-setting organization, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineering, against unfair competition claims brought under Wisconsin state law.
