District of Columbia

Firm overview

Williams & Connolly’s reputation for handling “bet-the-company” civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels applies equally to the firm’s thriving Intellectual Property Practice. Major corporations including Google, AstraZeneca, Dropbox, Roche/Genentech, Samsung, Pfizer, Intel, Eli Lilly, and many others place their trust in Williams & Connolly litigators to handle major intellectual property matters, particularly in patent litigation and related licensing disputes.

About 50 Williams & Connolly attorneys devote a substantial portion of their practice to patent cases, including fourteen former clerks of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Many of our lawyers practicing in this area have science degrees, and thirteen have been admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

A major part of Williams & Connolly’s patent litigation practice is representing pharmaceutical companies in Hatch-Waxman pharmaceutical patent litigation.

Williams & Connolly has handled over 100 IPR proceedings, including numerous concurrent with district court proceedings in Hatch-Waxman cases.

Firm overview

We’re proud to work with some of the world’s most dynamic organizations and the leaders who drive them. We know that on any given day you’re tackling competition, corporate development, asset protection, talent management—some days all of the above. While there’s a bevy of smart folks out there to help you address them on a case-by-case basis, there are few who have the breadth and depth of focused knowledge to help you attend to them all and stay ahead of what’s next.

That’s McDermott.

When you hire us, you don’t just get the experience of an individual. You get a purpose-built, tightly woven network of legal thought leaders who marry their passion for business with a deep, focused understanding of the law.

And your team isn’t just the lawyers working on your business day one. It’s also their colleagues around the world who guide and advise around the edges—the ones who add diverse, nuanced perspectives to elevate strategy and surface highly effective—but often unexpected—solutions when a “simple” transaction becomes a bet-the-company deal or a basic arbitration turns into multi-year litigation.

We don’t just promote this approach—we thrive on it. We know that it’s our ability to tap into the particular knowledge of our individual lawyers and then to harness their collective experience that makes us uniquely qualified to help our clients move faster and propel their success.

You can see it the results we deliver and you’ll feel it when you meet with us to talk about your needs. You’ll know that we’re more than “just” lawyers. We’re scientists, accountants, analysts, policy makers, money managers and family members who love the law. We bring all of those experiences to bear for your business and the people you serve.

Most importantly, we’re committed to helping you make real progress against your goals—to turning those big ideas into actionable plans—and to making it as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Firm overview

Kelly IP is an innovative boutique focused on all aspects of trademark, trade dress, copyright, design, domain name, and unfair competition law. The founding partners – Dave Kelly, Rob Litowitz, Linda McLeod, Lynn Jordan, and Stephanie Bald – all are recognised leaders in the trademark field and are known for their creative, practical, responsive, and cost-effective advice. They believe that brand owners deserve lawyers who are as passionate as they are about nurturing and protecting their brands and creative works, and they brought this vision to fruition by opening Kelly IP in May 2013. In doing so, the partners leveraged their 110 combined years of 'big law' IP experience – including leading hundreds of civil litigations and thousands of oppositions and cancellations, sending thousands of demand letters, filing hundreds of UDRP complaints, clearing thousands of marks, and filing, prosecuting and maintaining tens of thousands of trademark applications and registrations – and created a firm with a collaborative, team-oriented approach.
The firm immediately established an international reputation by scoring significant litigation victories in trademark cases before the courts and the TTAB, counselling on cutting-edge issues for many of the world's leading brands, and being recognized as a leading firm for online enforcement. Kelly IP has been consistently ranked as a top firm nationally for both contentious and non-contentious trademark work by IP Stars and others (e.g., Legal 500, World Trademark Review 1000, Managing Intellectual Property) and has received national awards for both trademark litigation and prosecution. We believe that the following client feedback from a prominent publication best sums up Kelly IP: "What makes its group of all-stars super-competitive is that you receive a world-class service at a significantly reduced rate – you get so much for your money."

Firm overview

Founded in 2011, O+Z is a litigation boutique led by attorneys with extensive experience protecting content and brands. The firm’s practice is at the intersection of technology, new media, consumer behavior, and litigation. We have nearly 25 lawyers dedicated to representing clients in creative and innovative industries against mass infringement, piracy, and related disruptive threats. We routinely navigate these areas and bring to bear our unique knowledge, skills, and relentless focus. Our attorneys have litigated some of the most prominent copyright and internet matters of our time. While our offices are in Washington, DC and New York City, our practice is nationwide and at times even international.

O+Z is built around these core principles:

We concentrate on practice areas where we have deep experience, provide exceptional lawyering, and are among the leaders nationwide. We do not try to be all things for all clients.

We emphasize real collaboration among colleagues to provide clients with the best representation possible. Our culture of teamwork, integrity, and strategic thinking leads to better outcomes and advice. We check our egos at the door and work together to solve problems and win.

We develop deep relationships with our clients. We understand their industries, business models, and challenges. We listen and bring to bear intense effort, focus, and judgment both in the day-to-day and in the strategic long-term.

We care enormously about achieving the best results and want to best align our interests and incentives with our clients. Our management structure enables us to make decisions promptly and gives us the flexibility to consider alternative fee arrangements.

We believe our success speaks for itself. We stand out because of our passion for what we do and how we do it.