Patent Litigation

Patent Litigation Experience and Expertise

At Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, we have a team of seasoned patent litigators who have decades of experience and insight litigating patent cases in courts across the United States for clients in a wide variety of industries. The Hunton Andrews Kurth intellectual property group combines the talent and experience of patent litigators from three legacy law firms: Hunton & Williams, Andrews Kurth, and Kenyon & Kenyon. All three law firms had long-standing patent practices, the oldest dating back to the founding of Kenyon & Kenyon as a patent law firm in 1879.

The members of our IP group have litigated dozens of patent cases for domestic and international clients in a wide variety of industries, including consumer electronics, computers, software, automotive, transportation, aerospace, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, energy, retail, and financial services. Our group has experience litigating in all the leading district courts for patent cases, including courts in Delaware, Texas, California, and Michigan.  We also have extensive experience litigating patent cases in the International Trade Commission  (ITC).  Many of these litigations have been complex, high-profile cases that involved multiple patents and implicated very important and commercially successful products. Our clients entrust us with these important cases because they know we will vigorously and effectively defend their interests and achieve a viable, cost-effective outcome. 

We represent both parties who have been sued for patent infringement and those who are enforcing their patents against infringers. As defense counsel, we investigate, develop and present strong defenses with a view to securing an early dismissal of the case or an early, favorable settlement that minimizes the cost and disruption of litigation while managing the risk of potential exposure. When representing plaintiffs, we develop and present a strong infringement and damages case, with a view to securing a favorable settlement if possible, but also with a view to surviving summary judgment, prevailing at trial, and being affirmed on appeal, if the case needs to be litigated. For those cases that go to trial, we have seasoned litigators who have tried patent cases for plaintiffs and defendants before both judges and juries. 

In every case, we vigorously defend our client’s interests while doing our utmost to minimize the cost, burden and disruption of litigation (including discovery), so that our client can minimize not only the external cost but also the internal resources dedicated to the case. In particular, we formulate a litigation strategy at the outset of the case based on our evaluation of the merits and the relative importance of the case, and focus on implementing that strategy throughout the litigation.

In addition to being top-notch lawyers, most of our patent lawyers have at least one technical degree in an engineering or scientific discipline. Some have also worked as engineers or scientists before becoming lawyers. The right technical know-how and aptitude can be critical to effectively litigating a technically complex patent case, to ensure that the key scientific and technical concepts can be investigated, analyzed, and clearly explained to the judge or jury that will decide the case. The depth and breadth of our group’s collective technical acumen permits us to assemble the right team with the right technical background for a given case, who can then work closely with our client’s legal and technical personnel, and the outside technical expert retained for the litigation, to develop the case.

Post-Grant Proceedings

Our IP group also has extensive experience with post-grant proceedings  in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the US Patent and Trademark Office, including inter partes review (IPR). These administrative proceedings permit a party to challenge the validity of a patent in a less expensive and more efficient manner than in court.  Our IP group has a successful track record in the PTAB representing both petitioners challenging patents and patent owners defending patents. When representing patent challengers who have been sued for infringement, we also typically file a motion to stay the litigation with a view to avoiding the expense and disruption of litigation while the PTAB proceeding is being litigated.

Patent Appeals

Decisions in patent cases by district courts, the ITC, and the PTAB, are routinely appealed by the losing party to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Our IP group has extensive experience with patent appeals at the Federal Circuit from all those lower tribunals. When we represent the party challenging a decision on appeal, we ensure that we bring to bear our extensive knowledge in patent law to identify and clearly present the strongest legal arguments that are most likely to persuade the Federal Circuit to reverse the lower tribunal’s decision. When we represent the party defending a decision against an appeal, we ensure that we clearly support the lower tribunal’s reasoning and findings with a view to persuading the Federal Circuit to affirm the decision.